The A Team
by Aspirator
Summary: The A Team is the best criminal investigation team in the United States. Seemingly out of nowhere, Mikan Sakura gets initiated into the team...but with a cost. Someone powerful is after them as they try to figure out mysteries of their own. A crime drama with a dash of humor, some romancing between our main characters, and tons of mysteries and suspense.
1. Introduction

**The A Team by Aspirator.**

They were the best criminal investigation team in the US, though they were quite the odd mix. There was only eight of them, and eight was all they needed. Or that's what they thought. Enter Mikan Sakura, and now you have a humor, drama, mystery, and emotions hanging on a thin thread.

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><p><strong>The Introduction.<strong>

_This chapter is just setting up the scene for the story._

_If you would like to skip the background information, wait for/go to the next chapter._

* * *

><p>They had just finished a case.<p>

The team met their boss in the conference room in which they had been briefed of that very same case. With a smile, their boss congratulated them on the case, taking all evidence and such to be handed off to the attorneys. Their boss - Narumi was his name - was a strange one. He was too cheerful, too optimistic, too soft to be in this business. They all wondered how he got there in the first place.

First to arrive on their floor was Hotaru Imai, the tech, who headed straight to her office. The term "tech" is a broad label when it concerns one like Hotaru Imai. She was more than just good at technology; she built them, she fixes them, she reinvents them. She's also one of their best interrogators in the team. If the team's investigation was somehow blocked by "red tape" (complications due to bureaucracy) Hotaru Imai was the one to go to. She was quick, efficient, and knew how to get her way.

Second came Natsume Hyuuga - but he was hardly second. At a glance, he was the leader. He was the field agent. He was the one breaking down doors, the one issuing orders on the field, the one chasing suspects. He was the other best interrogator on the team.

When the elevator dinged again, a more cheerful group graced the apartment.

The most cheerful, the team would say, was Koko Yome. He was the "mindreader". He was the one standing behind the mirrored/glass window when they were interrogating a witness. He was the one who would be the most accurate in guessing the killer's mindset. He was the easy-talking type, always prepared with a smile on his face. That was why he was the best to go for clue-finding and interviews.

Kitsuneme and Mochu were agents, and partners. These two are the ones backing up Koko whenever he'd go out in the field. Kitsuneme was a highly trained policeman, though a free-spirited character. (He only persevered through military school and other training with the thought that someday he'd be better than batman, superman, and spiderman combined.) Mochu was ex-air force, and highly knowledgeable in gangs, drug cartels, and networks of that sort.

Anna and Nonoko were the lab scientists. They were inseparable and excelled at what they did. When other teams needed an extensive forensic science section, the two of them was sufficient for this team. They were bred from the best, became the best and some more.

Yuu worked in the same department as Anna and Nonoko, equipped with an impressive medical background, but was a bit different. He was the thinker, while Natsume was the planner. Always with a cleanly pressed collared shirt and glasses, Yuu was suited for every part of their team, save for action of course. Most of the time he helped out Anna and Nonoko in the lab. Sometimes he'd be planning with Natsume. Other times, Koko would think aloud to him. Maybe he'd be around as Hotaru worked on a new model. He was the one who found loopholes in plans, the one who thought of anything unthought of, and the one the rest of the team went to for help.

They knew each other's strengths and weaknesses. They knew each had their respective specialties. That is why they were all equals. Other teams may have needed to occupy a whole building with respective teams of each specialty; the A Team only needed eight. Or that's what they thought.

Any other team would have been lucky to even get half a floor to themselves, but they were the best and they expected the best. Their floor was mostly open. One side of the floor was occupied by their lab, equipped with the most modern instruments- and better, for Imai had tweaked them all. A built-in kitchen was installed in one corner of the lab, requested by Anna for the late evenings and early mornings. The lab was divided from the rest of the floor by a glass wall, and a glass door. Though it may seem frail, Mochu, Kitsuneme, and Koko (the Three Musketeers, they called themselves) would throw themselves at it periodically. At one freak accident, they found out all the glass on their floor was bulletproof. Of course, they thought, only the best.

Laughing, Kitsuneme had been kicked out of that very same bulletproof glass door, leaving an amused Anna and teased Nonoko behind.

Taking up one side of the rest of floor was Imai's office/lab. This was the only closed off part of the floor. It was divided by a brushed metal wall, and a barely perceptible metal door, requiring a drawing of a pattern for entrance. It was always simple - a circle or a triangle _and_ a circle - and different every time Hotaru entered. After two years of working together, the rest of the team, except for Yuu, still didn't know how Hotaru's lab looked like; perhaps a glance through her mail slot but no more. Yes, Hotaru had a mail slot right next to her door, and sometimes, when her team members wanted to deliver something a little bigger, the crisp rectangular hole would magically transform into a bigger square. The Three Musketeers were always fascinated by this; it was like watching Transformers in 4D.

Covering part of Imai's wall, to the left of her door, were floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Occupying one shelf of the middle bookshelf was a Keurig, a stack of coffee cups, creamer and sweeteners. To the left of the machine were neatly organized K-cups for the Keurig, which is always fully stocked, for the team never wanted to handle Koko or Natsume without caffeine ever again. To the right of Imai's office door stood file cabinets, also floor to ceiling.

Where the file cabinets ended, a small gap to its right revealed a wooden door. That was where Mochu had emerged from, joining part of his team in the middle with a relieved sigh. Though it wasn't labeled (for nothing in their floor was labeled), they all knew it was the bathroom. Their bathroom, like the rest of the floor, was simplistic, modern, and clean.

The rest of the floor was laid out simply. Yuu had an office of his own, on the other side of the room from Hotaru, but with mostly glass walls - one wall was covered with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves - and a glass door. The glass was useful to Yuu. Equipped with a dry-erase marker, he could use the whole wall to brainstorm. (Though cleaning it was a bit tedious, but Yuu didn't mind.) Sometimes The Three Musketeers liked to "express their creativity" on his door, for Yuu was the only one who allowed it - as long as it didn't touch the rest of Yuu's notes - with a roll of his eyes.

Next to Yuu's office was an open space with four desks. They were for the rest of the agents; each equipped with the most modern computer.

The open space in the middle was where they usually gathered. A wheeling whiteboard stood in the middle, facing a conference table, oddly matched with suede sofa-chairs. Not far to the left was a wheeling flat screen TV.

As if getting their own floor wasn't special enough, they were also granted privacy. The building had two types of elevators located strategically around the building. One was for outsiders, with access to only certain floors. The other was for agents and cleared personnel. There was only one elevator and one security-code protected button in the building that led to their floor.

It was in the privacy of their own floor that they celebrated the way they usually did after they finished a case.

Anna had baked a cake. Nonoko helped her decorate it, usually a joke pertaining to the case.

The Three Musketeers had rolled the TV to replace the white board. They watched whatever game they could catch - this time, it was basketball.

A pack of six beers sat on the table, three had been taken by the Three Musketeers, one had been taken by Natsume, who retreated to his desk soon afterwards.

Yuu obviously didn't drink beer. He did join their little party in the middle though.

A minute into halftime Anna came out with the cake. Nonoko following with some store-bought donuts.

Koko whooped, Mochu wolf-whistled at the cake - earning a few roll of the eyes - and Kitsuneme cheered. Yuu laughed.

Setting the sweets down, the two women helped themselves to a seat, each grabbing one of the last two bottles of beer.

The six joked, laughed, and talked well into the night.

Hotaru would be in her office, only coming out at exactly midnight, to bid them goodbye. It was at her cue that the six in the middle would wrap up and leave soon after, each bidding Natsume goodbye too.

He would always reply with a simple wave. No one knew when Natsume left.

They wouldn't call it a tradition, it was just how they were.

The next morning, when they came in for work , they were expecting to get a case that's got the police puzzled, as usual. But when they all reported to Narumi's conference room, they were pleasantly surprised.

All staring curiously at the newcomer already seated beside Narumi, Hotaru heard Mochu comment to Kitsuneme, "damn," he dragged out the word as his eyes moved up and down, "she could probably take me higher than any plane I've flown!"

Anna belched, Nonoko made a disgusted face. But it was Yuu who spoke authoritatively, "One dollar in the douchebag jar when we get back."

As they were taking a seat, Anna tapped the table, "I motion for two!"

"I second!" Nonoko supported.

Not wanting to be left out of the excitement, Koko cut in, "I motion for three quarters. It was just a hormonal comment!" He explained to two appalled faces.

Yuu, rarely unmoved, stated, "one dollar, and that's final."

Hotaru smiled in approval at Yuu while Natsume smirked at Mochu's somber face.

Sitting innocently on one of the bookshelves in the A Team's deserted floor was a glass jar. On it, in black permanent marker, was a messy scrawl that read, "Douchebag Jar". It was half full with dollars and coins.

* * *

><p><em>The Douchebag Jar is accredited to New Girl (TV Series).<em>


	2. 0

"This is wrong. You know it, I know it, she knows it. C'mon, for once, listen to your conscience." There was a dry laugh, "Do you even have one?"

A solemn silence followed the pathetic attempt at lightening the mood. "It's a lot of money, Josh."

"Yeah, so? I know you need money. But we have enough. Don't you get tired of it? Of this? "

"We need money, Josh. _She _needs money. "

"We'll be okay. I've secured a nice paying job. Remember what we said we'd do? We're all gonna pitch in and support...us - all of us. I don't mind sharing," he was the only one laughing.

"But I do. I mind."

"What?"

There was a sigh. "I really wish I don't have to do this. I'm sorry, Josh."

"What do you mean - hey, what is that? No no no, you really - you don't have to do this. Put that down - please. _Please_put that down. You know I don't like that those things."

It was too bad the bustling city paid no special attention to his screams.

It was only the next morning, when a tow truck driver had tried to tow the car that the driver noticed there was a man still in the car. He didn't look very healthy.

* * *

><p><strong>The A Team<strong>

** by Aspirator**

* * *

><p>"Mikan Sakura, everyone!" Narumi introduced enthusiastically, sweeping his left arm across the room theatrically.<p>

Before the team could comment, however, a female agent marched angrily in the room. The first thing Mikan noticed about her was that she had dark hair that looked somewhat green - like seaweed - and matching bright green eyes. She also had the stance of someone who was fit and experienced in this field, and could maybe take her out with her bare hands. The third and most intimidating thing Mikan had noticed was that the newcomer was glaring straight at her, downright furious. "So it was true! Unbelievable!"

"Permy!" Koko burst out in excitement, apparently addressing the newcomer, waving enthusiastically.

Distracted for a moment, the woman called Permy narrowed her eyes at Koko, "Don't call me that and I don't know you." she scolded him harshly, causing the cheerful team member to slump in his chair, though his smile still in tact.

As the woman had returned to address Narumi, Anna reached over and patted him on the head, muttering, "It's okay, Koko! You still have us!"

Yet again distracted by the sight far down the conference table, the woman amended, addressing Koko, "I do know you." then growled at Anna, "He's not a dog."

Koko, unsure of whether to grin happily at the woman or smile apologetically at Anna, just smiled at the entire room. Mikan watched this whole exchange in confusion.

But the green-haired woman had turned back, for the second time, to Narumi. She scowled, "I was supposed to be the next person promoted to this team! Where did she even come from?"

"CIA," Mikan meekly offered, immediately regretting it when the woman's glare bore on her full-force.

"You're more suited to your team, Sumire. You're the best tracker, you know that." Narumi smiled gently, trying to placate the furious agent.

Mikan opened her mouth again, but Sumire glared at her harshly,"Don't talk to me, you just took my position," turning to Narumi, "I'm more suited to - bullshit!" She glanced at Mikan again, "Ugh!" She groaned as if the sight of Mikan pained her. She opted to glare at Narumi instead, "I can't _believe_you!" Throwing her hands up, she stalked out of the room, dramatically but ineffectively slamming the revolving glass door.

An awkward silence followed her exit.

"Drama queen's got a fine ass, though." Mochu spoke up.

Mikan's attention snapped to the speaker in disgusted curiosity. Koko face palmed. Yuu shook his head. Anna and Nonoko stared at him disbelievingly.

Kitsuneme laughed, "Keep it in your head, Mochu, keep it in your head."

Hotaru rolled her eyes, so predictable.

It was Natsume who spoke, though indifferently, "a dollar in the jar, Mochu."

"What jar?" Mikan asked, feeling very left out. She was going to part of the team soon, anyway, right?

"You have a habit of speaking up when nobody asked your opinion." Kitsuneme observed lightly.

"That's the nice way of saying mind your own damn business." Koko added unnecessarily, now sitting up in his seat, grinning at her.

Mikan's jaw dropped in shock, did he just _smile_at her and say that? She felt the need to defend herself against seven unwelcoming eyes. Unfortunately, however, there was nothing she could defend herself with.

"The douchebag jar." Yuu put in gently.

"No explanation necessary," Koko added again.

Mikan smiled at the only nice team member, apparently.

Narumi took this pause as an opportunity to speak again. "She's going to be your partner, Natsume!" Narumi informed the room brightly.

"What?" Came six astonished voices.

At the same time, a strong voice spoke arrogantly, "I don't need a partner."

Hotaru merely examined their boss closely, trying to determine his plan of action.

"So that's settled! Great!" Narumi clapped his hands in delight, completely ignoring Mikan's incredulous look. "Well, you got a new case! Exciting, right? Have fun with your new team member!" He grinned at the nine, then bounced happily out the door.

The team stood up to leave, leaving Mikan the only one sitting. She scrambled to stand up, bewildered. "Wait - did he just - we don't have any orders? Where's the cases? Wait!" But the eight were already piling out the door.

Natsume had taken out his smart phone the moment they stepped in the elevator. Skimming its contents, he stated unceremoniously, "Vic's name is Josh Harber. He may have died of drug overdose."

At the same time, a few other members of the team also looked at their smart phones. Mikan frowned, taking out her phone too, but unsure of what to do with it.

"If it's just a drug overdose," Kitsuneme thought aloud, "why is it handed over to us?"

All of the sudden, Mikan giggled at her phone. Eight eyes turned to her. Sensing the pause, Mikan looked up awkwardly. Like a deer caught in headlights, she gulped.

"You think this is funny?" Natsume gritted out; they were trying to get some work done, dammit.

"Uh...I was just..." Mikan wasn't sure how to explain that she was on twitter, but she wasn't being off task, or anything!

When she trailed off, Natsume rose his brow in question.

"Uhm...how do you get the case?" Mikan asked shyly.

At Natsume's annoyed sigh, everyone went back to their previous occupations. Only Yuu stopped to help her sync some weird program with his. Mikan only watched in fascination as the case opened itself on her phone.

"Something's wrong." Both Nonoko and Anna said at the same time. Looking up, they grinned at each other.

Then the rest of the group went on with their various conversation. Mikan paid no heed as she read the case file.

All of the sudden, the elevator dinged, and the two piled out. Mikan stared at the floor number, then the retreating backs of the two scientists in confusion.

Seeing this, Yuu explained kindly, "They're getting evidence and some autopsy stuff."

Mikan emitted a small, "oh." Then slinked back to her corner, feeling out of place in the team's procedures.

"He's connected to this company called IFB. That's what the police is puzzled about. He's kept a low profile - the whole IFB team has. It took me a while to find how many people actually works there." Imai stated monotonously.

Koko whistled in admiration. Apparently, "a while" is alot for Imai.

Yuu frowned, "How many?"

"Two." Imai kindly responded.

"Two?" Kitsueneme echoed.

Mochu frowned, "IFB is an insurance company. Vic was found in one of the cars it insures. Only two people running this? Vic was one of them?"

"That means there's only one now. How is that even possible?" Kitsuneme scratched his head.

"It's a scam." Imai responded, as though that explained everything.

"What?" Caught off-guard, Mikan frowned at her dumb phone, since it doesn't seem to have given her any sort of a hint at a scam.

Hotaru rolled her eyes at her, as if it was such a burden, but she explained monotonously nonetheless, "It was sued a couple of times, but somehow those files were buried. Took a while to uncover them."

There was a thoughtful silence as the rest of the team digested this information.

"I'd say this kid is good." Koko commented, "A real tech geek to be able to run a scam and cover files and keep himself in the DL."

Mikan only had to look at Yuu in confusion, for him to explain, "The down low."

Mikan nodded in understanding, then watched as the other team members brainstormed on the case. She commented to Yuu, "It's amazing how much work you guys get done in the elevator. How do you guys even get a signal here?"

Koko laughed brashly at her comment, "You're cute, newb; how do we _not _get a signal?"

When they turned back to the main conversation, Natsume was already issuing orders, "Imai, find some real dirt on IFB. Koko and Kitsuneme, talk to the vic's girlfriend. Mochu, when Anna comes to the floor, she'll join you to go talk to the vic's partner."

"Anna?" Mikan frowned in puzzlement at Yuu.

He smiled gently in return, "our scientists are qualified to do field work too."

Just when the elevator stopped, Natsume concluded, "Yuu, do what you do."

Koko and Kitsuneme high five-ed each other, grinning, "Natsume just made a funny!"

Natsume rolled his eyes at them.

Feeling forgotten, Mikan had to ask,"What about me?"

Seven eyes turned to stare at her awkwardly.

"I mean - I can help too...Uh, I can go with Mochu! You don't have to pull out a scientist for that!" Mikan smiled hopefully.

The elevator doors opened just then, and slowly, the group filtered out, completely ignoring her.

"Sit, and shut up." Natsume ordered curtly, not even bothering to look back at her as he left the elevator.

Offended, Mikan stalked out of the elevator after him. "I am not a dog! Don't tell me to sit! What are you gonna do, _hm_?"

Natsume merely spared her a haughty raised-eyebrow glance. Koko laughed again at the exchange.

"Oh shit! You just challenged alpha male! Beta female challenged alpha male!" Kitsuneme announced playfully.

"What? You're not a cult!" Mikan looked at Koko incredulously. "And he didn't even - did he just give me the 'I'm too cool to grace your lame comeback with an answer'?"

"Did you just call your own comeback lame?" Koko replied instead.

Mikan frowned.

"That's a yes." Koko flashed her a grin.

Mikan took this time to scan her surroundings. She almost whistled - they _are_the best, huh? She then cocked her head as the team members methodically picked up ear pieces from a container on one of the bookshelves. Frowning, she fell to the back of the line, and also picked up a clear, squishy...thing.

Mikan frowned, then she looked up as others put on their ear...thing. Somehow she found herself watching Natsume - only because he was directly in front of him and not because he's like really hot or anything - as he expertly attached the piece to his right ear. Then she caught herself, for she wasn't gazing into his perfect earlobes but his bemused crimson eyes and yet again raised eyebrow.

"What?" Mikan made a face at him, fumbling with the ear piece, but he had already left.

"Someone's got googly eyes." Koko wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Kitsuneme, on the other hand, waved it off, "It's okay, it's happens all the time."

"I wasn't - what - He's not _that _hot-" But she caught herself when she glanced at her partner sitting innocently at his desk, "Okay, well, I wasn't staring-"

"Yeah, okay." The K-pair waved her off.

Huffing, Mikan went to settle herself on one of the conference table's sofa-chairs. But it wasn't long before she was called to Hotaru's lab through the earpiece.

She didn't miss the astonished looks from the remaining members of the team as she cautiously walked over.

She also didn't miss how Hotaru had turned both of their earpieces off the moment she stepped in.

.

Koko smile widened as he approached a tall, fancy apartment building. Nodding at his partner, he commented, "Pretty expensive for a bank clerk."

"Indeed." Kitsuneme grinned, muttering to Koko in the elevator, "Why do you think Newbie got to see Hotaru's lab? I don't think it's fair. We've been here for way longer - she's been here for like two seconds! And we don't even get a glimpse of her lab."

Koko shurgged, also curious, "Maybe she's in trouble."

"In that case, I can live without see her lab in my lifetime." Kitsuneme shuddered.

As they approached her apartment door, they knocked politely. A few seconds later, the door opened slowly to reveal a plainly dressed doe-eyed lady. Her light brown hair was tied in a high ponytail and her eyes showed traces of grief. So she had heard the news, Koko presumed. He was relieved - they didn't have to be the one to break the news.

Kitsuneme smiled, addressing the woman kindly, "Kelsey Lowesdale?" At her cautious nod, he continued, "Hi, we're from the FBI. I'm agent Kit and this is agent Koko."

Koko's quick eyes caught a flash of panic, but that was normal in most recipients of that statement. It disappeared within a split second, and was replaced with caution. Koko didn't think much of it. Conversely, he almost laughed to himself. Did she steal a cookie in kindergarten?

"Don't worry, you're not in trouble." Kitsuneme smiled gently, "May we come in? We just need to ask a few questions about your boyfriend."

At that, something strange dawned in the lady's face. It was fake recognition, which Koko easily looked past. He saw some real traces of fear, and by the contusion of her eyebrows, worry. But again, that was normal for a girlfriend of the victim.

"Josh Harbor?" The nice lady was saying. "Uh, I mean, sure, come in." She opened the door wider and led them to a mildly furnished living room.

When they settled down, Kitsuneme took a deep breath and began grimly, "Kelsey - can i call you that? - Kelsey, your boyfriend, Josh, he was uh, he was murdered last night. I'm so sorry."

Kelsey gasped, bringing her right hand to her mouth, and in a shaky breath, she exhaled quickly, "No." She began blinking quickly, indicating the start of tears.

Then she paused, her eyes registering in - again - fake realization, "I don't understand. Josh is strong. He - he could've survived."

Koko furrowed his eyebrows. Grief before denial. That's strange. He couldn't stop himself from blurting, "I'm sorry - how did you know before we came?"

That caught her by surprise, "what?"

"You knew, before we came. You were grieving, I could tell by your eyes. Why is that?"

She blinked rapidly, looking to the left, "I - what?" she looked at him disbelievingly, then to the right, "My mother's in the hospital with cancer! I just visited her yesterday."

Koko felt bad, even his partner gave him a cautious glance. "Oh. I'm sorry."

Kitsuneme gently went on with their questions, "Kelsey, did you know your boyfriend was running a scam?"

"No."

"That's a lie," Koko cut in.

"Who are you?" Kelsey demanded of Koko.

Kitsuneme replied for him, "We're FBI. Please answer the question - honestly."

Kelsey sighed, "So I knew, okay? I knew but I didn't approve of it. But that was where our money was coming from so I couldn't really demand him to stop. If he did, we'd be dirt poor. Being a bank clerk doesn't really bring enough money, you know?"

"No..." Koko looked calculatingly at her, "there was something else. You needed to live in luxury."

"What? I - I was brought up this way!" Kelsey's stance turned defensive, crossing her arms and lifting her chin.

Koko only _hmm_-ed in response. "You're a shopaholic."

"I-" Kelsey supposed it was futile trying to protest, "Yes. I know how this looks. I may need Josh for his money but I also loved him. I did. I loved him."

Koko stared at her, why was there guilt in her eyes? "But it wasn't enough?"

"I'm sorry," She snapped, "I thought we were here to talk about Josh."

"This _is_about Josh. You were gonna leave him weren't you?"

Her eyes said yes, but Kelsey looked at Kitsuneme and changed the subject, "Josh was a good man. Or he tried to be, with his...business, and all. He did everything else right. He just needed the money."

Kitsuneme sighed, "We're not here to justify his actions, we're just here to see if he had any enemies?"

"Well, he _is_running a scam."

"But on a more personal level. Maybe college rivals, anyone who keeps coming back because of the scam? Anything?"

"Uhm...no. Sometimes him and Ken fight, but they're best friends so they'll always make up- " As if just remembering something she stopped.

"What is it?"

"I just remembered - they never got even. Getting even - that was how they made up after a fight. Uh, they had a fight, about two days ago."

"Do you remember what it was about?"

"Yeah, uh, it was about IFB, I think. Yeah, I'm sure. Something about the partnership, I don't know. I really just take a backseat in all this."

"And they usually confront each other, to work things out?" Kitsuneme urged her to continue.

"Yeah, but recently they would try to talk it out a lot but end up just arguing all the time."

"Did you hear what they said?"

"Uh, I don't know, I'm sorry."

Koko took this fade in conversation to cut in, "So who's the guy?"

"What?" Kelsey turned to him in confusion and annoyance.

"The guy you're having an affair with."

She lifted her chin in defiance. "This has nothing to do with Josh."

"So it's none of my business?" Koko rephrased. When her lips thinned into an annoyed line, he continued lightly, "Okay then, can I use your bathroom?"

Kelsey blinked in surprise at the change of subject, she looked up and to the right, tapping into her visual memory, "Uh, yes, um, the - to your right, there, down that hall, the last door to your right, in the bedroom, to the left, there's a - the bathroom."

Koko politely excused himself. He walked where she directed, glancing behind to check if she was still looking. Then he began peering in all the doors. Closet, another bedroom, office, bathroom? Then he spotted a large shiny rectangular object in the bathtub. Koko grinned, bingo.

.

Meanwhile, Mikan sat in a spare chair in Hotaru's lab.

"Why did Narumi put you in here?" Hotaru never failed to get straight to the point.

Mikan cocked her head to the side, "Uh, I was hoping you would tell me."

"_I_would tell you? Why?" Hotaru looked at her incredulously, well as incredulous as her blank face could look.

"Because when Narumi approached me, his offer also included information. He said information came in the form of an intelligent woman named Hotaru Imai."

Hotaru nodded. She stated monotonously, gauging her reaction, "London, three years ago."

A cautious look came over Mikan's face. She seemed as if looking at Hotaru in a new light.

Hotaru frowned, there was no sign of recognition in her eyes. Reluctantly, and slowly, she stated the name of their case, "Esprit de Corps."

Mikan furrowed her eyebrows, "spirit of a group?"

Deciding that it was useless stating bits of information to try to jog her memory, she asked instead, "do you remember three years ago?"

Hotaru could clearly see the hesitation to divulge information in her fidgeting. She sighed impatiently, "trust me, I know more than you do."

Mikan sighed in defeat, "Uh, I was on a mission, and it had gone awry. I was compromised. But the CIA managed to get me back. So here I am."

Hotaru nodded, it wasn't hard to deduce what had actually happened, "You lost your memory? Is that the lie the CIA told you?" What she had been told wasn't exactly a lie, but it sure as hell wasn't the truth.

Mikan sat back, offended but curious at the same time, "I - how - no! Narumi told me that! How did you know I lost my memory?"

Hotaru only smiled mysteriously, "Trust me, I know more than you do." And Mikan was dismissed.

Unbeknownst to the bewildered agent walking out the door, Hotaru also smiled for another purpose she's kept to herself. She figured she knows what Narumi's trying to pull. She supposes she'll talk to Narumi soon. There was one thing Hotaru had absolutely no clue on - and she could've asked Mikan how she had lost her memory - but she didn't want to waste precious minutes of her life listening to a lie CIA had concocted for her.

.

The elevator dinged, then opened to reveal Koko and Kitsuneme walking purposefully to the center conference table. Koko, grinning, stopped by Imai's box to drop off a plastic bag containing a wet, silver macbook pro.

"Oh you found it!" Yuu exclaimed in surprise, seeing the evidence bag.

"Yup! It was in the girlfriend's bathroom. I figured it would be obstruction of justice for withholding evidence, so I took it." Koko explained, obviously proud of himself.

He and his partner then approached the conference table where Yuu was at.

"Apparently," Kitsuneme continued for his partner, "she said that Josh had, in a rage of frustration, threw it in the bathtub."

Yuu furrowed his eyebrows, "If you were in a 'rage of frustration'" he made air quotes with his fingers then continued, "then you would throw it out the window, or at a wall...why would you patiently wait for the bathtub to fill up and then put it in there? It only destroys data, you don't get any satisfaction from it."

"Exactly!" Koko thought about his words, "Yuu, you're a genius! That was the point! It destroys data!" Then he paused, "But why would Josh want to destroy data?"

Mikan opened her mouth to try to answer but another voice beat her to it.

"Maybe it has something to do with this," Natsume approached with his light laptop, "Apparently the company had been under renovation for a few days now."

"Under renovation for what?" Mikan spoke up.

Natsume merely responded with a condescending stare. Then continued, as if she had never spoken at all, "Either something within the company led to the vic's death, or someone, who was furious about the scam, wanted revenge."

"I don't think it's about the scam at all." Mikan spoke up again, undeterred by the few unwelcome stares, "If I was scammed and I wanted revenge - and I was smart enough fake a death like that - I wouldn't kill. I would bring the whole company down while it's vulnerable. Killing one of them doesn't help at all."

"Newb's got a point." Koko grinned.

Before Natsume could comment, however, the elevator dinged. Part of the gang turned to see Mochu rushing in, calling for Nonoko, and gently tugging Anna in at the same time. Kitsuneme immediately went to Anna for she had a huge gash on her left arm, and judging from all the blood, it was deep. To Mikan, she seemed like a very strong person for she was still walking on her own two feet and reassuring Kitsuneme that she was fine, even joking. But by the wrinkle on her forehead, and the biting of her lip, it was painful.

Nonoko immediately rushed out to meet Anna and led her to a first-aid station next to Yuu's office.

Once they settled down, he nodded to Mochu, "What happened?"

"We went to find the partner. He wasn't at home so we had Yuu track him."

"He was at the bank." Yuu interjected.

"So we went to the bank and he was leaving, and the moment he saw us heading for him, he ran."

"If that doesn't scream guilty, I don't know what does." Koko commented.

"So we chased after him, and I went around the corner to intercept him. I caught him but found Anna not far behind with something stuck in arm." Mochu paused to shake his head, "the guy swears he didn't do it on purpose."

"Okay, where is he?" Kitsuneme asked.

At the same time Natsume confirmed, "He's in the the interrogation room?"

"Yeah." Mochu nodded to Natsume, answering both questions.

The agents left the conference table then, half of them went to go to the interrogation rooms, and the other half to investigate some more.

Mikan frowned, taking out her laptop, placing it gently down on the glass table, and quickly turning it on. She was going to do some of her own research.

She glanced up briefly as Nonoko passed by to go back to the lab, after Natsume ordered her to do her job.

She went back to her research, then paused. Looking at the lab, she stared for a moment, unsure of what to do.

Nonoko looked up from her computer, as if sensing her stare. She turned and smiled politely at Mikan. Mikan smiled graciously back.

Closing her laptop, she supposed she might be welcome in the lab.

.

Koko and Mochu sat at their desks, bored. They looked over and watched the scene next to them.

Kitsuneme was scowling softly as Anna tended to her own wound.

Kitsuneme said quietly, "You should've been more careful."

"I'm a scientist; I study careful." Anna replied, equally quietly.

Kitsuneme stuffed his hands in his pockets, sighing, "I guess you'll have to give me some of your signature chocolate for making me worry." Then he grinned brightly at her.

With a laugh, Anna slapped his arm with her able arm, "You're gonna have to work harder than that, mister, for my signature chocolate." With a wink, she walked past him to her lab.

Kitsuneme shoved his hands in his pockets with a smile, staring after her.

.

They met at the conference table again, regrouping and brainstorming on their newfound research.

Nobody noticed that Mikan was gone.

Yuu tapped his laptop that he brought to the table, "turns out, Josh Harbor was planning to quit."

"Is that from the interview?" Koko asked, though they probably all already knew the answer.

Yuu nodded, "that's all we got - he wouldn't confess. But he has no alibi."

Natsume nodded, then looked pointedly at Nonoko. "You're up."

"He was poisoned." Nonoko stated, placing her iPad on the center table and sifting through charts and tox sheets on the screen, "look - the poison was mixed in with a lethal dose of drugs. Whoever killed him wanted to make sure he was dead."

Yuu spoke up again, "The coroner told us that he was clean. At first she thought he might've drank it. But there was no trace of the poison in the bottles. But then she found a...hole. The poison was injected through a thin needle."

"Who would have access to needles and poison?" Koko asked for all of them.

"I think it's the girlfriend, you guys," Anna spoke up, "If you listened to Mikan-"

"The girlfriend?" Mochu interrupted incredulously, "How?"

"Well, if you'll listen, she has motive. She needs money, and I think we've established that Josh was going to quit. Ken didn't need to kill Josh."

"But he tried to kill you," Kitsuneme muttered.

Anna frowned at him, "It was a mistake. He was scared because his partner was killed."

Kitsuneme continued, "Ken has motive. He has no alibi."

"No he doesn't - think about it. Why would Ken kill Josh? He's going to get all the money anyway. Josh is handing over the company to him. How does killing Josh benefit him?"  
>"Okay fine, let's go back to the girlfriend." Natsume stated blandly, "It still doesn't make sense. Koko said she's a shopaholic. She needs him. Why would she kill him?"<p>

"He was planning to go clean, which means he'll have less money."

"But she was going to leave him anyway," Koko spoke up.

Anna was quiet.

Hotaru spoke for the first time in that conversation, "We've got nothing without the confession." She nodded to Anna, "Let's talk to the girlfriend anyway, maybe we'll find something."

.

Mikan went to Josh Harber's funeral.

She didn't know what exactly she was looking for. She was just hoping for a clue. She was researching the case and she heard the team's discussion through her ear piece. All the evidence was there, but she knew something key was missing.

Contrary to her optimism, all she saw were a few crying adults, and a clueless but solemn child. She stood a few graves away on a hilltop, under a tree, silently watching the progression. From there, she could count about ten people. That was very few for a man so 'beloved' as the girlfriend had said.

Speaking of the girlfriend, she sought out the brunette. There - she was standing near the front...dry-eyed. Of course, she had already cried.

Mikan felt someone approach, standing beside her. She has already deemed the stranger safe, for she felt the frailness in every step the stranger took.

"It's sad, isn't it?"

Mikan turned to see a woman, maybe fifty, looking eighty. She sighed, and it was almost as if she could collapse any time.

"At least there are people," Mikan replied softly.

"He promised me, he promised me he would do something good in his life," The woman shook her head, "looked me in the eye and lied to me."

Mikan looked at the woman in surprise, "You knew?"

The woman smiled wryly, "Of course, I'm his mother."

The surprises just never stopped coming. Mikan sputtered, "You're Josh's - what?"

The woman laughed, "No - Ken's."

Mikan nodded slowly, "Oh." then she looked at the woman in a new light, "You're...ill."

The woman affirmed sadly, "So much money. When it first started, I could see the redness in his eyes, how thin he was - oh. Sometimes when I look back, I think that maybe...quick money was better. So he wouldn't be so tired all the time." Then the woman looked ruefully at the funeral proceedings, "Him and Josh. They were good kids. They just wanted to help me, that's all."

Mikan spoked softly, "do you know who would...?"

She didn't finish before the woman shook her head. "They were lovable. No one would've ever thought they'd..." She shook her head.

Mikan noted idly as she spied the girlfriend sneaking away first.

Apparently, she wasn't the only one who noticed, for Ken's mother sighed, "I never really liked her. Josh wasn't my son to judge...but, he might as well have been." She paused for a second in silent contemplation, then she started again, "I knew from the start she was a gold digger."

Mikan shook her head, sometimes, old, observant moms were quicker to catch on than detectives.

"Then when Ken came to me about that woman," The old woman shook her head, "I told him what I thought. I wouldn't say he believed me, but it got him thinking."

Mikan paused, "she went after Ken?"

The mother nodded, "But Ken was smarter, Ken rejected her. I was so proud of him then."

When the funeral attendees turned to leave, so did Mikan, but after she smiled sincerely at the woman, "You're a wonderful mother, even if Josh wasn't your son. And, thank you."

"You'll find him, won't you?" The mother stopped Mikan, causing her to turn around in question. "The one who killed him?"

Mikan cocked her head, "how did you..?"

"Like you said," the woman's pale lips lifted slightly, "I'm his mother."

Mikan smiled softly, nodding in understanding, "Yes, I will." After a pause, "He deserves better than this," she motioned to the now empty funeral.

The woman turned back to head towards the newly placed grave, "Yes, he does."

.

When the elevator dinged and Mikan strode in brightly, Kitsuneme, who was passing by, stopped in his tracks, "Where've you been?"

Mikan grinned at him, "Getting enlightened."

Kitsuneme looked at her oddly, then turned to continued on his way, "Alright, just don't let Natsume know you were meditating or doing yoga or whatever during a case."

Mikan shook her head, walking in Yuu's office. "I think we need to interrogate the girlfriend and Ken."

Yuu, who was talking to Natsume, turned to her in astonishment. Then stared at her oddly, "Uh...yeah, sure." He blinked, motioning to the door awkwardly, "we just arrested her...How did you...Where did you go?"

But she didn't get to answer for Natsume interjected, "You left without permission?"

Mikan looked around startlingly, "Why do I need permission...?"

Natsume gave her a condescending glare.

Yuu spoke up, before war could break out, "A-Anyway, Ken and the girlfriend are waiting in the interrogation rooms. 54th floor, Rooms 2A and 2B."

"I want to talk to the girlfriend." Mikan stated confidently, which waned when Natsume stared her down.

"Koko and I are going to talk to Ken and the girlfriend." Natsume stated in controverse.

And just on cue, Koko marched in, smiling brightly, "I think I'll pass." He turned to Natsume, grinning cheekily, "I think I'll just watch."

Natsume frowned darkly.

"She's part of our team now. Just let her do something." Yuu reasoned.

Natsume stared at Yuu for a long moment, then walked away dismissively, waving a hand behind him, "Your call."

Mikan jumped excitedly, "Yes!" punching the air, she skipped out past Natsume, "Thanks, Yuu!"

.

"She's good," Koko stated, standing beside Natsume in the observation room, watching Mikan crack the girlfriend.

Natsume merely grunted.

Inside the interrogation room, Mikan sat back, seeing as she was hitting a dead end with her line of questioning. She shuffled around papers from her manila folder. She took out pictures of the dead victim. Placing them in front of the woman, she stated casually, "He was poisoned."

Kelsey refused to look at the pictures, "Why are you telling me this?"

Instead of answering, Mikan opened her manila folder again. "Let's look at your track record. A bachelor's degree in chemistry. You're going for your masters now, aren't you?"

"So?" Kelsey folded her arms across her chest, "Like you said, I'm going for my masters, so I was in the lab last night, working on my project. Why am I still here?"

"Because," Mikan tapped the pictures on the table, "Josh Harbor was poisoned through a needle, stabbed in the side of his neck," Taking out an evidence bag from under her chair, it revealed the said needle. "A needle," Mikan placed it on the table, carefully gauging the woman's reaction, "we found in your apartment."

But Kelsey was unyielding, "I was in the lab," She repeated, "Somebody put it in my apartment - Ken had keys too."

Mikan nodded, but skeptically, "Really? Because, see, that needle was stolen from West Regional Hospital the night before-"

"I've never been there," Kelsey defended herself, but seemed on the edge of panicking.

"Right," Mikan nodded, but lifted a finger, "but this," she took a piece of paper from the folder, "is a description of the woman who paid the thief, Anne Graham, who confessed and said that the woman had paid her in cash - five hundred dollars."

"I want a lawyer," Kelsey stated.

"Okay," Mikan nodded again, "You can call your lawyer but it'll take him time to come, and in that time," she gathered her papers together, "you'll be charged with first degree murder."

Kelsey's eyes widened, and Mikan continued, "And there's this thing called aggravating circumstances where the suspect is punished more severely," she paused for effect, then added, "and could be proven by premeditation and poisoning," she tapped the needle.

Kelsey was very obviously panicking now, "Okay okay! I want to cut a deal."

Mikan scoffed, "Right, here's the deal, you're going to prison." She stood up to leave.

Kelsey desperately stopped her, "I'll confess."

Mikan paused, then sat, "okay."

Taking a deep breath, Kelsey told her story. Mikan gave her a pen and paper, so she wrote as she talked.

Mikan's face didn't change as the story progressed - obviously Kelsey was going for the sympathetic edge.

Kelsey ended, "I had to do it. I was in my lab like I said, but I was developing the poison, and I gave him one more chance. He was going to shut down the company! I couldn't let him do that! I talked to him, but he wouldn't-" she took a deep breath, "I had to do it. And his will – he gave his inheritance to me."

"So you didn't know Ken was going to take over instead?" Mikan asked.

Kelsey sat back, stunned, "what?" she blinked, "I haven't – I haven't talked to Ken recently…"

Mikan nodded, "Youhad him for a while, but then Ken wanted nothing to do with you, hm?"

But Kelsey was still dazed, "I didn't know he was going to take over the company…"

Mikan shook her head, sighing, "His death, all for nothing." Regarding the woman in front of her coldly, she pointed to the bottom of the paper, "Okay, sign at the bottom."

Kelsey did as told. Then when Mikan gathered the papers and turned to leave Kelsey asked after her, "So you'll help me? Shorten my prison sentence? Anything?"

Mikan turned back only slightly, "I'll let the DA think about it." Then left.

Kelsey sat back, looking bowled over.

Koko chuckled shaking his head, turning to leave too, "Well, damn. She just got us a written confession."

.

"Anna was right." Mochu commented, when he heard of the news.

The former approached, shaking her head, "No, Mikan was right."

"What?" Kitsuneme turned to her.

"It was Mikan - she told me what she thought, since none of you guys wanted to listen. I thought I could try to relay the message. Guess all of you guys are thick heads." Anna grinned.

.

The elevator dinged and a new voice entered the room, "Hey guys!"

The newcomer was met with great hospitality, Mikan was almost jealous.

"Hey, buddy!" "Sup, dude?" "Hey!"

He went around greeting everybody, then approached Mikan amiably. He introduced himself as Ruka Nogi, the lowly policeman downstairs that sometimes drop by. Mikan introduced herself as Mikan Sakura, the newly transferred CIA agent. They had a pleasant conversation, in which Ruka left with a brilliant smile on his face.

Ruka paused at Natsume's desk. "Why are you giving her such a hard time?"

Natsume glanced at his best friend briefly, then turned back to his work, "Who told you that?"

"Uh..." Ruka fidgeted.

"Someone's about to get punched today."

"Look! Don't hurt Yuu," Ruka defended quickly, "I practically tortured him to tell me what's going on."

"Oh, so it was Yuu."

"Damn," Ruka sighed, "why do I keep falling for that."

Natsume only smirked.

Ruka shook his head, "Anyway - change is good, Natsume. You should embrace it."

Natsume rolled his eyes, "Since when did you start giving out advice?"

Now it was Ruka's turn to smirk, "Since you started giving the new girl a hard time."

.

"I didn't get to do anything today!" Mikan whined, as they sat around the conference table in celebration after closing a case, "All 'cause of stupid, annoying, rude, jerk over there," She not so subtly pointed to Natsume sitting at his desk, "What did I ever do to offend him anyway?"

Mochu laughed loudly, "You were assigned his partner. That's offensive enough."

"I don't even want to be his partner anymore! It's so boring!"

"Sometimes it gets exciting," Koko patted Mikan's head. "Sooner or later, it'll come."

.

For Mikan, it was sooner.

When Mikan left the building at 11pm, she hummed softly to herself, the bus stop was only a few blocks away.

However, halfway there, she noticed someone was following her. Or she thought. She's decided to take a bit of a long cut, through a few alleyways.

She turned a sudden left, sprinted down the alley, only to emerge in the next street, turned right then almost immediately ducked into another alley.

Just a she predicted, a hooded figure appeared in the alley, slowly and cautiously looking around, for her, presumably.

Mikan emerged from the shadows behind the figure, attempting to pin her down. But the figure was quick, too, and evaded capture.

Mikan had her gun out in a flash, but at the same time, the stalker knocked the gun out of her hand with a well-aimed kick. Since her gun was gone, Mikan caught the ankle and attempted to twist her, but the woman used her as support and brought her other leg up for another strong kick. Mikan dodged, just barely, sliding forwards, as if the assaulter's foot was a limbo pole, and pulling the ankle, forcing the assaulter flip forward. For a heartbeat, the two were almost back to back. Contrary to landing in a heap on the ground, the assaulter caught herself with her hands and backflipped, causing Mikan to lose grip of the ankle. They faced each other on opposite ends - they had switched sides.

Mikan glanced at her gun laying on the ground a few feet from her. The assaulter took the millisecond of distraction as a chance to take a shot at her. Mikan eyes widened as something sharp flew at her, and purely on instinct, dodged. She twirled while she was on the ground, attempting to trip her assailant.

The attacker easily dodged by hopping high off the ground, opting instead to land on top of Mikan. The latter gasped, struggling with the strong arm around her neck, and the weight against her back. She didn't know where all her tricks came from that night, but purely out of instinct, she twisted her assailants arm. The attacker had flew from her back to landing winded on the ground.

Within the second, her assaulter stood up, panting. But she was not fast enough. Mikan hurdled into her, slamming her against the wall. Her attacker's hood had fallen. She was blonde, she had big, babydoll round eyes, and very red lips. She scoffed, "you were always better than me, _Mikan Sakura_." She said her name with such venom, and passion, Mikan knew that she and this woman had history.

Then all of the sudden, she sensed people coming from behind her. She let go of her captive and turned around to defend herself - just in time, for she felt a sharp knife scrape her upper arm as she turned. She's only caught a glimpse of a tall shadow and a sharp metal before she aimed her hand to catch his wrist and twist it, making him let go of the knife. But her newly freed captive tripped her from behind and caught the falling knife, sending her sprawling. She felt another man, a third assaulter, come up to catch her - but before he did, she planted her palms firmly on the ground and did a double flip, kicking him down in the first flip, and landing perfectly on the ground in the second.

Not a second passed before Mikan stumbled, her left hand shot out to grab support of the alley wall, her right hand grabbed the left side of her waist. Judging by the amount of blood gushing out of her waist, it was a deep wound. The third man must've stabbed her as she managed to kick him down during her first flip. She panted, confused when they'd stopped coming for her. Then she realized they wanted to talk, so she will, "This is hardly fair, there are three of you."

"Of course, I'm not stupid." The woman said, seemingly the leader of the trio, "You put up a good fight, by the way." She paused for a second, approaching her cautiously, then smiled evilly, "Just like you used to, but you've gotten a little bit rusty, and a little more gun-friendly. Like all cops." She scoffed, "They don't know how to use their body. But anyway. It's been three years, hm? You don't remember? Of course you don't, I personally made sure of that." Mikan eyes widened at that, "No matter, you'll remember soon enough. It wasn't supposed to be permanent amnesia anyway." She sighed as if she was talking about the weather, and that it's about to rain.

She leaned close, but far enough, "Here's a message: don't get too close." The woman threw her hood back on.

"Why?" Mikan furrowed her eyebrows, too close to what? To the A team? What did the A Team do?

She seemed to think a bit, "you'll just make it harder on yourself later." she shrugged, "We're just trying to help you out here."

"Who's we?" Mikan persisted.

Mikan didn't even have to try to look under the shadows of the woman's hood to know she's smirking, "you'll know soon enough."

And just like that, the woman and her subordinates vanished into the shadows.

Mikan exhaled slowly, holding her wound. Stumbling through the alley, she knew it won't be long before she passes out. She made a quick decision - the A team's floor is the closest. Only one block, through shortcuts, of course, and she'll use the back door and the quick elevator Anna had told her of.

She was barely conscious when she arrived on the floor, seeing black blotches in her vision, all she knew was that she made it, and maybe Hotaru was still here. She heard a voice, she wasn't sure whose, and quick footsteps approaching. She felt warm hands on her arms, supporting her, and then she knew she'll be taken care of. She blacked out.

Mikan didn't expect excitement to come _this_soon. But she was part of the A team now. Excitement followed them like baby ducks.

Mikan didn't realize how wrong she was for thinking this was an attack on the A Team. No, Luna smirked as she planned her next moves, this was personal.

* * *

><p>Okay obviously I'm really bad at couples other than NatsumexMikan. Forgive me. I'll read more diverse fanfiction.<br>**What **_**non**_**-NatsuMikan couple do you prefer?**


	3. 1

"We need to talk."

"Hotaru! What a pleasure!"

"Why did you put Mikan in our team?"

"Always straight to the point, you," Narumi laughed, "oh you know, I thought you guys need a little more, hm?"

"Did you want her to regain her memory?"

Narumi paused, then he answered honestly, "yes and no."

Hotaru scrutinized her boss with narrowed eyes, cleverly deducing, "No because if she did remember, she's dangerous, isn't she?"

Narumi nodded, "She is, but I have no doubt she'll choose the right side."

Hotaru scrutinized Narumi, "why yes?"

Narumi smiled wryly, "she's skillful. She's been taught very well."

Hotaru frowned, "That's not it. Let's not waste my time, Narumi."

The boss sighed, sometimes the A Team were quite the handful. But then again, he was the only senior agent who could handle them. "There's been a threat."

"I know. They're coming back, aren't they? You need her intel."

Narumi glanced sharply at her, "Why, no! I wouldn't use Mikan like that - no." He paused, then told Hotaru sincerely, "I need her safe."

"Safe?" Hotaru was confused, to say the least.

"They're coming for her."

.

.

**The A Team**

_Aspirator_

.

.

It's been a few weeks now, and for Mikan's optimistic perspective, things have changed for the better...ish. After a few incidents and arguments with a certain someone, she had gained the respect of the three musketeers. Well, she didn't know for sure, but she assumed that was why they had started calling her by her name instead of Newb. She supposes being teased with, "What a Mikan moment!" "How Mikan-like!" "That's a very Mikan question." rather than "How Newbie of you!" was a tidbit better.

It was a funny story how she earned each of the Three Musketeers' respect, actually. It all happened as they worked on a certain case to do with street thugs and gun trafficking.

It was one of those local-gangs-causing-trouble-but-good-enough-to-cover-their-tracks cases. The A Team merely had to find a tid bit of a loop hole in their dealings.

Meanwhile, Mikan was still trying to convince the team that she really belonged with them. Though Anna, Nonoko, and Yuu had somewhat tried to make her feel as a part of the team as they could, Natsume was shutting her completely out.

As of now, he was doing it literally. Mikan talked and complained and whined and persuaded as she followed Natsume around. She was his partner for Pete's sake and she couldn't even stand next to him in the elevator!

"Look, I was put in this team for a reason!" Mikan trailed after him as he picked up a file from Hotaru's mailbox then walked to his desk. The Three Musketeers sat in the middle, eating popcorn, and watching the two of them like a tennis match.

Natsume sent her a dry glance, "You mean the one where you tricked Narumi into thinking you could drive?"

Mikan fumed, "Okay, there was a freaking bird and I swerved and maybe we hit a few cars and stopped traffic for a while but this is Manhattan! These things happen okay! Life goes on! You can't seriously hold that over me for forever!"

Natsume smirked, "Watch me."

Mikan had to resist the urge to stomp her foot, "You weren't even in the car! You refused!"

"But I had to clean up your mess."

She scowled, "No, Hotaru did."

Natsume rolled his eyes but opted to stay silent so that she could leave.

She didn't leave, "I'm your freaking partner!" she added quietly, though Natsume's sharp ears picked up, "even though I don't wanna be."

"I don't need a partner." The annoyed male agent reiterated from their first meeting.

"But I can help! I have skills too! You're not the only one, you know, like between us," Mikan gestured between the two of them with a wide sweep.

"But I'm the only one with brains apparently." Natsume muttered as he attempted moved on.

Mikan had no problem blocking his path, "That's not fair, you don't even know me!"

Natsume stopped, he sighed as he ran a hand through his already messy hair in irritation, "You wanna help?" At Mikan eager grin, he rolled his eyes, "get out of the way."

Mkan's jaw dropped, "rude!" But Natsume had walked around her, and all she could see was his strong back. "Maybe if you get that pole out of your ass, you would notice that I could really do something." Mikan yelled after him.

The Three Musketeers fell all over themselves laughing, spilling popcorn everywhere, earning a reprimanding look from Yuu.

Natsume didn't respond as he turned stared at her for a moment. It wasn't the first time someone told him that.

Mikan wasn't the only one who noticed a lack of a reply. The three musketeers gaped at the two.

Koko spoke for the trio, "Newbie one, Alpha zero."

Finally, Natsume scowled, answering to Mikan's comment, "We'll see."

.

.

.

Apparently Natsume's definition of letting Mikan help was to send her away with other agents. But Mikan knew he just really didn't want to deal with her. She scowled when the thought occurred to her, but her frown turned upside down when Koko hopped into the elevator to join her.

Koko shot her a quick smile, pressing the closing doors button, before turning to her completely, "So."

Mikan blinked, staring at Koko openly, "yes?"

"Do you fancy-schmancy Natsume?" Koko asked directly, quick eyes watching the new agent's reaction.

Mikan blinked again. Her face slowly registered shock and puzzlement, then horror. "I - _what?_ How - No! Hyuuga is a jerk!"

She's honest, Koko grinned, "okay." He didn't give Mikan time to answer before continuing, cocking his head to the side, "You don't seem like you like tricking people. So how'd you get Narumi to pick you for this team?"

Truth be told, Mikan didn't have an answer for that. "I really..." Mikan thought about telling a lie. But when she looked at her teammate's understanding eyes, she knew she couldn't say anything but the truth, "I don't know." At Koko's confused look, she launched into an explanation, "it was kind of sudden actually. I went on a mission and when I came back and maybe a few days after I turned in the report, Narumi came looking for me. He said I could really 'make an impact in world peace' by joining you guys."

The nicknamed 'Mind Reader' nodded, it sounded just like Narumi to say such a thing. "What kind of mission was it?" He asked, trying to clue in on how Narumi picked her out.

Mikan bit her lip, recalling the eventful day. "It was hard. I mean it was supposed to be an easy task, like you know, fetch. Turns out I was ambushed but I didn't know who. We fought in the dark. I was kidnapped, but I escaped."

Koko nodded again, but still completely clueless as to how she came to be in their team. Maybe Narumi liked her escaping ability? Narumi was weird like that. He looked up as the elevator dinged and walked out onto the busy floor with glass offices on the sides and cubicles in the middle. He led Mikan to a large glass office in the corner, where a woman sat typing and on the phone at the same time. Mikan recognized the woman as the drama queen who debuted her first day in The A Team.

She glanced up at them when Koko knocked on the glass door. Nodding, she talked for a minute longer before slamming the phone down on the receiver. She then elegantly flicked her fingers, gesturing for them to come in.

When Koko and Mikan settled on the seats in front of her desk, she crossed her arms smugly, "Y'all need me." She stated simply.

Mikan looked awkwardly away, remembering the fact that she just took the woman's position.

Koko smiled, "What will I do without you?" Mikan in her feeling of awkwardness failed to sense the hint of truth in his statement.

"Not much," Sumire smiled, leaning forward to type on her laptop with a pink cover, "Hotaru just called. Since y'all are probably too stupid to remember everything." She glanced up at the two, "Her words, not mine, but still true."

"Not true." Mikan muttered.

Sumire scoffed, but did not comment. Instead, she sat back, "I printed some pictures," nodding towards the door, she looked directly at Mikan, "go fetch."

Mikan was astounded at her rudeness but looked at Koko in confusion. Koko's smile was plastered on his face, unbothered, he explained, "All the way down this hallway, last door to your left."

Mikan remained in her seat however, "Unbelievable!" she gaped between the two, "I don't take orders from rude people."

Sumire was not to be talked back to, "Aw, sucks to suck because I don't take shit from anyone."

Mikan's jaw dropped. This whole bureau is just full of blunt, rude people! In an annoyed huff, she stood up and stomped out the door, "fine! I don't want to stay in the same room as you anyway!"

Koko watched her leave, then raised a inquiring brow at Sumire, "How's it?"

Sumire looked down, shuffling papers distractedly, "How's what?"

"What's going on?" Koko's smile waned at Sumire's unyielding lips, "You didn't send Mikan away so we could sit here in silence. Spill."

Sumire sighed, annoyed eyes flicking up to meet understanding ones. "Hotaru also told me," she tapped her fingers distractedly, "the investigation's gone cold again."

Koko sat still. Then after a pregnant pause, he slumped, still smiling, "You're more heartbroken over this than Natsume. And it's _his_ case."

Sumire glanced at him sharply, "You know that's not true. He's just keeping it all inside." Her fist clenched and her face turned dreamy, "If only I could - I would be the one to - and then he would open up - just me - " she sighed dreamily.

Koko rolled his eyes, smiling amusedly, turning back to the original topic, "How many times has this happened?"

Sumire shook her head, "too many." she scowled, "I'm so frustrated! Imagine how Natsume feels."

Koko opened his mouth to speak but he was interrupted by a different female voice, "Got the pictures!" Mikan exclaimed triumphantly as she stalked in, slapping them down on Sumire's desk.

Sumire scowled, grabbing a marker, she quickly circled a few spots on the pictures, then shoved them back at Mikan. Taking the flash drive from her computer, she threw them at her too, "There you go. I have better things to do than deal with your problems, bye."

Mikan wrinkled her nose at her rudeness but took it, "and I have better things to do than deal with your rudeness."

Koko only grinned, giving Sumire a silent reassuring nod before he left.

"Don't come back!" Sumire called after Mikan.

Mikan only stomped away. Koko patted her head, "That's Sumire. You'll get used to it."

The walk to the elevator was mostly silent. Sometimes filled with idle chatter.

When they got to the elevator, Koko sprung the serious talk on her again. Turning to her as the doors closed, his lips thinned to a serious smile, "What do you get from this?"

Mikan blinked, "I'm sorry?"

"What do you gain from being here?"

Mikan feigned confusion as she looked around the elevator, "being...here?"

But Koko only smiled at her, "You're a bad liar."

Mikan sighed, the FBI agents here are so blunt. And so clever. But of course, they were the A Team. "It's...personal." she half-shrugged, "I don't know, I needed a change anyway. I like excitement and all but CIA was kind of just the intelligence agency. We didn't get to do that much."

"In FBI you have to deal with a lot of red tape." (red tape is like bureaucratic regulation. It's very complex. There's a bunch of forms and getting the appropriate licenses and approval and time-consuming stuff to get something done or permission granted, etc.)

Mikan nodded, "Yeah, but it's kind of ironic because the CIA can do whatever the hell it wants but it doesn't. And it seems like you guys do whatever you want even if you're in the FBI. Do you get like a special clearance or something?"

"Or something," Koko shrugged, "We have Hotaru. She kind of bends the rules to our will." There was a pause as Koko scrutinized her, "Did you know about this team before you came?" Though they were the best, they like to keep their profile on the DL.

He believed her when she said no. Mikan explained, "I didn't know until Narumi came to me with the proposal. He showed me your case summaries for the past six months. It was impressive. I said you didn't need me, since you guys are already doing so well, you know?"

Koko grinned, "true, we are the best."

Mikan admired the way he shone with pride as he said so. She nodded slowly, "Narumi said that they needed an added spice they could make you guys even better. Like milk to oreo."

Koko stared at her for minute, then a sincere grin broke out on his face, "True. I like you." The new girl is open, nice, and didn't fawn over Natsume.

Instead of the usual strange looks he gets from his abrupt statement, Mikan grinned at him, "Oh good, then maybe we can become good friends!"

The elevator dinged and Mikan skipped in their floor happily, making a beeline for Anna to tell her of the exciting news. She flounced in the lab, sliding to a stop in front of Anna and grinning, "Approval number one!"

Anna blinked, then smiled, "Of the musketeers?"

Mikan grinned, on the verge of squealing, "Yeah!"

"Hey Newb!" Kitsuneme's head popped in the lab, "Alpha wants the information!"

Mikan groaned, rolling her eyes. Patting down her pants, she produced a flash drive as she walked away, sending Anna a quick farewell smile.

.

.

.

"A witness," Mikan cocked her head, totally oblivious to two large heads hovering over her shoulder. One was Natsume who begrudgingly just wanted information, and the other was a curious Koko. Mikan scrolled down, "And her address."

Natsume glanced at Yuu briefly, "Get her in protective custody ASAP." Yuu nodded, his phone already on his ear.

Mikan continued scrolling, absorbing the loads of information, "Shouda _is_ good."

There was a long period of silence as members of the team went back to do their respective jobs. Natsume had returned to his phone (since Mikan was on _his_ computer), Yuu had finished talking on the phone and was at the conference table comparing notes as Anna and Nonoko sat beside him, Mochu was secretly scrolling through twitter on his phone, and Kitsuneme was playing with a stack of cards.

Mikan finished reading, then noticing the quiet atmosphere, spoke up, "Hey -" when she caught the attention of six pairs of eyes, she grinned, "what breaks when you say its name?"

There was an awkward silence as the members of the team stared at her. Mikan continued slowly, "silence!" She smiled, "ha ha, get it?" She coughed when nobody moved. "Alright..." She turned back to the computer awkwardly.

Suddenly, Kitsuneme roared with laughter, "I get it!" he chuckled, shaking his head, then patting Mikan's, "Good one." His hand moved to her back, slapping it so forcefully, Mikan was almost pushed forward. Addressing the rest of the bemused team, he grinned, "I like her."

Mikan looked at him with a half-grin, "O-Okay-" Mikan blinked as Kitsuneme continued slapping her back heavily, "Okay, okay-great," taking his hand from her back, she nodded, "Alright - I - got it - thanks, yeah."

Kitsuneme withdrew his hand sheepishly, "oh," grinning at her, he walked off joyously.

Anna turned to look at Mikan as she passed her to the lab, stating proudly, "well there's approval number two."

.

.

.

And yet again her _partner_, Natsume, sent her away with another person. The third part of the Three Musketeers.

"We're just gonna barge in there?" Mikan exclaimed disbelievingly as they walked along the streets, her more reluctantly than her temporary partner, "They're not gonna invite us in for tea or something! They're thugs, Mochu!"

Mochu waved a hand dismissively at her, looking around for their targets. "It's okay, I got you, girl." He continued moving forward, then rolled his eyes to Mikan's protests, "Don't worry, I got yo' back." To emphasize his point, Mochu patted her back, pushing her forward a bit. "I did a case undercover with them a long time ago, it's all good."

And as expected, once they stepped in the gang's "turf" a group of guys turned to them, "Hey! This place is off-limits!"

But Mochu didn't back off, "no, no, I'm one of you, remember me?"

A group of five guys approached them, the leader look him up and down, then look at Mikan, "Who's that?"

"Her? Oh she my bitch." Mochu waved at Mikan's incredulous look dismissively, "Anyway, you remember me right? Lil' Moe? C'mon, man."

"Oh, yeah!" The leader snapped his finger, "I know you," then he took out his gun and the men behind him took out their baseball bats, "You the snitch!"

Mochu held his hands up in surrender, "Uh," he chuckled nervously, "Yeah, about that, haha, funny story -" he began backing up slowly, "It was her!" He yelled pointing to Mikan, then turned around and sprinted like his life depended on it.

"What?! Mochu!" Mikan, caught by surprise, eyes widened when the gang turned to her, licking their lips, itching for a fight.

"We'll go easy on you," the leader smirked, "We try not to hit girls - but this is a special situation."

"Okay, um, let's just put down the gun, okay?" Mikan nodded slowly, backing up to a wall, not really reassured.

.

.

.

Back in the A Floor, Anna was scowling at Mochu, reprimanding him for leaving Mikan with the thugs. "fifty in the jar, Mochu!"

Mochu leaned back, "Hell naw, girl, that's like, my hour's worth of pay!"

"And how many hours have you been working here?"

Mochu paused, "uh..."

"Yeah, exactly, you don't need one hour's paycheck, c'mon," Anna held her palm out, "hand it over."

The elevator dinged to revealed a hassled Mikan, scowling.

Mochu grinned, glad to be distracted, "Hey! You're alive!" turning to Anna he pointed out, "See? She's good, no need for my money to go to waste, hm?"

Kitsuneme, passing by on the way to his desk, "Oh, so you got rid of them?"

Mikan growled, "No," and in answer to the puzzled looks, she continued, "I brought them in for questioning."

Mochu, his brows almost to his hairline, whistled. Kitsuneme nearly dropped the papers he was holding so he could clap, and Anna grinned proudly.

Natsume, sitting at his desk, didn't even bother looking up, grunting, "Koko, go question them." There was a pregnant pause, and he looked up, scanning the room, "Where's Koko?"

Kitsuneme scratched his head, "You just sent him after the witness."

Natsume frowned, "Okay," waving a hand dismissively, "you go."

Setting the papers down on his own desk, Kitsuneme grinned, "_Yuu_ go?"

Natsume rolled his eyes, opting to glare at Kitsuneme instead of answering.

"Okay, I'll just - I'm going, I'm going," Kitsuneme held up his hands in surrender, quickly walking to the elevator, head down.

Meanwhile, Mikan plopped down on a chair next to Mochu, turning to glare at him. "What was that?"

Mochu scratched his head innocently, "what was what?"

"You running out on me," Mikan made a face, "what happened to, 'girl, don't worry, I got yo' back'?"

Mochu coughed nervously, "Haha, yeah, uh, that's how you earn my respect around hurr', girl, a'ight?"

Mikan rose a brow, "by siccing a bunch of thugs on me?"

Mochu stood up to leave, "I'm hard to impress, a'ight?" He patted her head to placate her dark scowl.

Mikan shook her head, "You're not the only one," she muttered. Her gaze shifted to a bored Natsume, leaning back in his chair, his feet on his desk, and throwing up and catching a ball. Then, as if sensing her gaze, he turned to look at her, raising a brow. She scowled and glared at him, turning away huffily.

.

.

.

"So there was a gang shooting and they accidentally killed a random passerby and the witness was one of the gang member's girlfriend and was scared shitless but wasn't killed yet because the gang member sent after her liked her too and he was the one that accidentally killed a random guy." Kitsuneme stated all in one breath, recalling their case, "Why didn't they hide the body or whatever they do with gang shootings?"

"Because that random passerby was a policeman and they were scared more popo are coming so they didn't have time - they just hightailed it outta there." Koko explained.

Kitsuneme sat back, "well there ya go," he threw his hands up in the corresponding motion, "case solved!"

"Man, I can't believe I'm saying this but New York is pretty boring nowadays." Mochu whined, scrolling through his smart phone lazily.

She didn't know what made her say it but quietly, she quoted, "The calm before the storm."

The three stared at her across the table. Mikan looked up, "What?"

Kitsuneme shook his head, "I like you, so I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."

Mikan looked around at the three disapproving looks in confusion, "But why?"

"You just don't say those things around..." Koko nodded playfully at Mochu, "you know."

Mochu, in turn, slammed his hand on the table, "You better not jinx some shit around hurr', a'ight?" Turning to look around the floor, he muttered, "There better be some fucking wood in this place - gotta knock on them shit."

Mikan stared at Mochu oddly.

The elevator ding-ed to reveal a grinning Ruka. "I heard case is closed so I stopped by," he greeted.

.

.

.

Anna was the last to leave, before Mikan, Natsume, and Hotaru of course. After she left, the trio stayed behind to talk about the Mystery Woman. Mikan wanted to call her The Woman, but both Natsume and Hotaru refused - quite ferociously, actually. Mikan wondered why, but dismissed it quickly - she didn't think it suited that much anyway.

They didn't talk long, however, before Anna barged in, almost the same way Mikan had.

She had gashes and cuts, but she was alright.

She testified that she had been attacked, not far from here.

Mikan nodded, "It was a woman. Right? And red lips. Did you get her to take off her hood?"

She winced when Mikan dabbed alcohol peroxide on her wounds, "No." She paused before she continued, looking directly at Mikan, "She said to tell Mikan this, 'this is number one. And here's a message: no hard feelings'."

Mikan and Hotaru frowned at the same time, both were confused, but for different reasons.

Natsume looked at Hotaru, "We should tell everyone. Warn them."

Hotaru nodded slowly, as if considering the pros and cons in her head. "Tell them to be prepared. But be vague. And never to be alone."

"She's good." Anna said, as soon as Mikan was done treating her bruises. Standing up, she faced one concerned and two blank faces. "I can tell - that she didn't know how I fought - I mean, duh, we've never come across each other. But she's good. She has a counterattack for everything."

"How many were there?" Mikan thought she didn't have to ask, but she had the sudden urge.

Anna looked at her strangely, "Just her." Anna shook her head, "And she beat me in like five seconds."

Natsume and Hotaru sent Mikan a sharp, calculated glance.

"What? Mikan, you were attacked too, right?"

"Yeah," Mikan smiled half-heartedly, "But I'm okay, she didn't hurt me too bad."

Natsume scoffed, earning a glare from Mikan and a curious look from Anna.

"You have stitches." He poked her waist eliciting an "ow!" from Mikan, who returned the favor by punching him in the chest, but he didn't budge, "You call that not too bad?"

"Mikan!" Anna gasped, "You said you got that long boarding! I was wondering how long boarding could give you an injury on your waist."

"I, uh," Mikan sent Anna a sheepish look, "I heal fast, so I'm really-" she emphasized this word by sending Natsume another kick, in which he dodged, daring her with a look, "-fine." She tried again, successfully kicking in the shin.

Anna looked between the two oddly, "oh.._ I see_."

Before the pair could defend their teammate's suggestive looks, Hotaru cut in,"You can go home safely," she dismissed Anna, "Nogi will accompany you."

In a heartbeat, Hotaru had called up Ruka, and soon, Anna was walking into the elevator to meet the smiling policeman. The three remaining members of the team bid their goodbyes.

"You have Ruka's number on speed dial?" Mikan asked, holding in a laugh.

Hotaru glared, "For security purposes."

Mikan nodded slowly, "right."

Natsume merely lifted a slightly curious brow at the whole exchange.

"She was more prepared for you," Hotaru changed the subject back to the mysterious woman, "She knows you."

"How can she know me?" Mikan folded her arms against her chest, "I don't know her."

Hotaru rolled her eyes, "You think you don't."

"Right," she rolled her eyes, "I don't have the best of memories."

"It can't be someone from before," Natsume disagreed, "They wouldn't be attacking our team if they were just targeting her."

"Or would they?" Hotaru argued, "We knew a cult that would go this far."

Natsume's eyes darkened as Mikan looked between the two in puzzlement. Natsume turned away dismissively, "We shut them down three years ago."

Mikan's ears perked, "Three years ago?"

"You know something?"

"No," Mikan scowled, "that's just it. I don't know anything."

Natsume sent her a calculating glance, unsure of what to think about that answer.

Hotaru understood, but said nothing.

The elevator dinged again, and the three turned to see a blond policeman.

Hotaru spoke first, "What are you doing here?"

Ruka stepped onto the floor, grinning under her unwelcome stare, "I'm here to take you home." He sputtered, "Uh - I - I mean, everyone - escort everyone home." He coughed awkwardly, "Yeah."

"I don't need an escort," Natsume stated blandly, walking past him.

Ruka merely glanced behind him, patting Natsume's back in a farewell. Turning back to Hotaru, he nodded purposefully, "Right, okay, I'll escort you-" he glanced at a smiling Mikan, "two home."

Mikan also shoved past him, joining Natsume in the elevator, "I'm fine, thanks, Ruka!"

Ruka turned around now that Hotaru was also trying to walk past him, "Yeah - okay -"

Hotaru muttered, "I'm fine, goodbye."

But Mikan closed the elevator doors, yelling through the gap, "Oops, sorry, catch the next one!" They heard her laugh as the metal block collided gently.

Hotaru growled then headed for the stairs. Ruka followed her, scratching the back of his head.

Down on the next floor, she emerged to catch the elevator, with Ruka right behind her. They suffered the ride in an awkward silence. Ruka, on the other hand, sending her furtive glances.

When she walked out on the roads, Ruka was still right behind her. She turned around abruptly, "What are you doing?"

Ruka blinked, pointing in the direction they were headed to, "I - I'm just - uh."

"I said I was fine. You can leave now. Goodbye." She stated shortly, turning back around and if one watched closely, she stomped off.

After a few minutes, she noticed Ruka was still beside her. She growled as she tried to walk faster, but his strides only lengthened. Hotaru gritted her teeth, "Why the hell are you still following me?"

Ruka glanced at her in surprise, "I'm not following you," he stuffed his hands in his pockets, "We're just walking in the same direction."

.

.

.

After the elevator doors closed, Mikan clapped her hands in delight, "I can't believe it! Ruka likes Hotaru!"

Natsume glanced at her warily. "He's just being a saint like usual."

"No he's not! Did you see the way - ugh nevermind. You wouldn't understand." Mikan waved at him dismissively, "Men."

The new girl just waved at him like he was a mosquito. Oh no she didn't. Natsume glanced at her warily, "Because you know my best friend better than I do?"

"No," Mikan defended, "but -"

"But what?"

"I wasn't trying to offend-"

"But you did."

"But that's not the point! Did you see the way he-"

"No I didn't."

Mikan threw her hands up in frustration, "Let me finish!"

"I just did." Natsume smirked.

Mikan growled, muttering under her breath, "cheeky son of a bitch."

"Heard that."

Mikan glared but made no reply, determined not to talk to him for the rest of the ride.

After an entire five seconds of awkward silence, Mikan impatiently blurted, "Why do you hate me?"

Natsume merely quirked an eyebrow at the sudden question, "Who says I do?"

"I'm not blind," Mikan rolled her eyes, "You obviously don't like me very much."

He shrugged in turn, "I don't like much."

Mikan crossed her arms, _liar._ "You like Ruka. You like the team." she paused thoughtfully.

Natsume looked at her bemusedly, "go on."

His partner opened her mouth, but closed it. Her eyes narrowed at his smug look. "I don't know you that well - okay - so I don't know what you like. Maybe you like -" Mikan threw her hands up, "I don't know, eggplants. Which I wouldn't understand because eggplants are gross."

"I don't like eggplants."

"Oh _yay_," Mikan grinned sarcastically, "Something we have in common! Finally!"

When Natsume only stared at her strangely, she continued, "Okay so i really like strawberries. Do you like strawberries?"

Suddenly, something popped into Natsume's mind. An elegant masquerade ball with a high class society. A beautiful brunette, dressed in a flowing light pink gown with a beautiful mask, laughing loudly - so carefree - and sneakily throwing strawberries at him. Natsume was dressed in a tux, scowling, but contrarily feeling the most lighthearted in ages. But he had lost that long ago.

There was a pause before he spoke, "This isn't a date. You don't need to pretend, and we don't need to get to know each other."

Mikan gasped in offense, "I wasn't - Can't you just - so rude - how -" Just then the elevator doors opened. "Jerk!" Mikan huffed, stalked out of the building muttering under her breath. Natsume followed, amused at the violence directed at him that he's hearing.

When she stepped out of the building, Mikan released a relieved sigh. Taking a sharp left, she attempted to lengthen her strides. Presumably to lose her rude partner.

It took a few seconds for her to notice Natsume taking long strides beside her. "What are you doing?"

Natsume glanced at her, then at the sidewalk obviously, "Walking."

Mikan paused looking around. She elicited a quiet, "oh! Oops." then stalked off to the opposite direction.

Natsume rolled his eyes but an amused smirk made its way onto his face as he made his way home.

/

alright guys, bad news: this might be the most recent update i can do since school is starting.

good news: i have this whole story planned out so it won't take TOO long. I just have to write the deets and all.

review please!:) it's what keeps me going!


	4. 2

Joe Smith worked at a grocery store. He was American, five foot nine inches, short brown hair, didn't look too shabby to be honest, was twenty, hasn't gone to college (yet), and broke.

Therefore, explaining his lowly source of income in the prime of his life...and also providing motive for an embezzlement charge and his arrest at 9:15 A.M. when he went to work that morning.

But what really puzzled, and even frustrated, the NYPD was that he had no idea how it happened. He knows he's innocent, he has been clean all his life, and although he was broke, he was never desperate enough to do illegal things. Joe Smith was your average Joe (pun intended) - and this is apparently his first offense.

"Look, you can interrogate me all you want - I've obviously been cooperating, but I don't know how that money ended up to be gone during my shift at the register, and I know it all points to me, but please, _please_, believe me when I say I am innocent." Joe held his hands up in surrender as he tried to make peace with the annoyed policeman.

The annoyed policeman, who went by the name Grill, found it hard to carry out his namesake. He felt and he's seen that the man was innocent, and as much as he grilled or tried to grill the man he couldn't help but feel a tinge of pity for the man's mixed (but mostly hurt) expressions.

After three hours, Grill's supervisor shook his head from behind the mirrored glass. Almost as if sensing his disapproval, Grill himself sighed and left the interrogation room, appearing beside his boss in a few minutes.

"I don't get it," Grill folded his arms, "He doesn't know anything. We checked his bank accounts - it matches up with his usual income. Nothing's changed. He's obviously not using it either."

Grill's partner approached the pair. They call her Lex, since her full name is Alexandra. She greeted the pair before injecting, "He's stealing cash, he might've stashed it somewhere."

"Could be." The supervisor agreed, "but they found nothing at his apartment," as an afterthought, he added, "if you could call it an apartment."

"You think he's framed?" Grill asked, though he himself believes so.

Lex replied quickly, "Yeah, but-" she exhaled quickly, "the evidence points right at him."

"Maybe he's a really good actor." The supervisor shrugged. The three has a silent pause as they contemplated what to do. Finally, the supervisor spoke up, "You know what, release him. But keep watching him, see where he goes, what he does." he nodded at the pair in finality then strode off to attend to other business.

Lex gestured to Grill, allowing him the pleasure of releasing the poor man. She watched as the man's face light up, then frown in contemplation at the news that he was still their number one suspect. He nodded gratefully, however, as he was being led out.

They watched as he exited the doors. Lex's brows furrowed, and she nudged an already retreating Grill, when Joe suddenly stopped outside the doors. Grill returned, watching the man's reaction with the same puzzled look at his partner.

Suddenly, Joe turned around, his face revealing panic, but lit up, as if he suddenly remembered something horrible. He rushed back in the police doors, calling out Grill's name as he went, nearly stumbling over a child who was heading out.

The partners approached him, but he didn't wait until they were near before calling out, "I know something! I remember a man! He was -"

Before the door closed after the child, a bullet whizzed through and hit the upper left of Joe's back. He stumbled, coughing, slamming into the ground. The station was suddenly thrown into chaos. Lex immediately bent down to attend to the dying man as Grill grabbed his gun and ran out the door with a few other policeman.

Once they were outside, everything was normal. It was as if nothing happened. A child was holding onto her mother's hand as her mother talked on the phone. A group of high school girls walked by giggling, looking at the policemen with strange curiosity.

They scanned the area. Grill tried to trace the direction of the bullet, but the shooter either left pretty quickly or was very good at blending in. The policemen walked back in their building. Grill raised an eyebrow at Lex in question. Lex shook her head sadly, patting the limp arm of an ordinary man whose life had been turned upside down, then taken away. Grill slumped in a chair, shaking his own head.

.

.

.

**The A Team**

_Aspirator_

.

.

.

The A Floor was pretty quiet on a nice Sunday afternoon. Everyone minding their own business, as per usual. Mochu was sleeping on the sofa, Koko and Kitsuneme playing games together, Yuu and Nonoko talking in him office. Anna working on something in the lab. Hotaru - nowhere to be seen - but most likely in her lab. Even Natsume is at his desk typing away at his computer.

Unfortunately, Mikan Sakura is anything but peaceful at the moment.

"_Hyuuga!_"

"_What?_" Natsume snapped his head up in annoyance, using the same sharp tone as she did.

"I want a desk!"

Natsume glared at her, then returned to the computer, "Then get one."

"Where?"

He shrugged, "Go fucking annoy someone else about this -"

"I did!" Mikan threw her hands up, "Why would I go to you first, rude ass? They said you'd know!"

Its one of those moments where Natsume realizes he's still not used to being called names. Because she's (obviously) the only one who dared to call him names. But at the same time, he _is_ used to it. (It's an odd kind of feeling.) It's been two months and they're now at the point where they just off-handedly call each other names without much deep thinking.

"Why would I know, annoying bitch?" Natsume shot back.

"I don't know, anti-social fuck," she raised her fingers to make air quotes, "Because you're 'alpha' or some shit?"

Her partner seemed like he was about to retort, then paused, "anti-social fuck? Is that supposed to be an insult?"

"Yeah, to all those anti-social kids out there because they have to be compared to you."

Natsume scoffed, "Actually, they should be honored."

"You are so full of yourself." Mikan stated promptly.

Natsume didn't deny it, changing the subject, "just share with someone - Koko, whatever."

"Been there, done that." Mikan rolled her eyes, "He's sharing with Anna. Kitsuneme's sharing with Nonoko - they don't have much anyway. Mochu's desk is just plain nasty - I don't even -" she shuddered. "I just want a desk!"

"What do you want me to do? Point my magic wand?"

"Actually, I was hoping you could snap your finger." Mikan smiled cheekily.

Natsume rolled his eyes, sighing, he leaned back, "fine. You get the last drawer," he cleared one half of his desk with one sweep of his arm, "this side of the desk," he tapped his computer, "don't touch any of my stuff."

Mikan blinked, then blinked again. "We're sharing?" When Natsume only gave her a 'are-you-stupid' stare, she continued, "Wait I only get one side of the desk? How am I supposed to use it? I don't wanna sit next to you!"

Natsume resisted the urge to smack his head, "sit on the other side."

"what?"

"Get a chair," Natsume talked slowly, as if to a foreign exchange student, "place it right there, and sit." Natsume commented as he returned to his computer, "How did she pass preschool?"

"I heard that!" Mikan scowled as she went to grab a chair.

"Good." Natsume replied expressionlessly.

Mikan growled at him when she came back, "I hate you."

Her partner didn't bother to even look at her as he said, "ditto."

The two returned to work, not realizing that they've elapsed into a sense of comfort with each other - in an odd way, seeing that they insult each other - but also reaching this stage that doesn't exactly define them as good friends, but definitely not enemies.

Suddenly phones came to life all at the same time throughout the floor. The A Team looked at each other, and picked up their phone to read the incoming text. Mochu jerked in his sleep, waking up suddenly, shaking his head, then tiredly reaching for his phone.

Mikan sat in the midst of this feeling awkward because a) her phone didn't ring and b) nobody cared.

Koko laughed as he read the contents of the message, "Narumi's a lazy ass."

Then suddenly, a piece of The Beach Boys' song "Good Vibrations" blared and Mikan joyfully reached for her phone.

"Dang, girl," Mochu rose both his eyebrows, "You got some bad service. T-Mobile?"

Mikan looked like a deer caught in headlights, "It's cheap, okay?"

Mochu only frowned and shook his head at her disapprovingly.

The nine gathered at the center conference table.

Mikan read as she walked, nearly bumping into Yuu.

**From: Narumi**

**To: The A Team (Group text)**

**Message: No meeting today! ^_^ The case is already sent and quite puzzling! Have fun! Behave! **

**-Your Lovely Boss!**

Mikan closed the message and opened her case app. True to his word, a case is downloading on her screen. It was a quick download, for it had finished downloading in less than a minute.

"I think the man's being framed." Koko spoke up once everyone settled down.

Six heads bobbed up and down, Mochu spoke, "yeah, and he knows something that killed him."

"Something he didn't realize until," Nonoko paused, "something reminded him as he was leaving?"

"Something waiting outside the police doors," Kitsuneme shrugged, "I mean he coincidentally remembered at that one moment."

"Or someone." Natsume commented shortly.

The rest of the A Team contemplated his words.

"Ah," Koko dragged out the word in show of his understanding, then he shook his head, "I don't get it. Explain?"

Instead of a deep voice they all expected, Mikan spoke up, "Someone was waiting outside, planning to kill him, but Joe saw him first, suddenly remembered something crucial, immediately went back inside to tell the police, but the person reacted pretty fast and shot him just in time."

There was a quick pause as the team swallowed the information. Natsume, on the other hand, didn't pause at all in giving her a raised eyebrow and a slightly amused, "stealing my thunder?"

"You had no thunder to begin with." Mikan lifted her chin.

"Oh yeah?"

Yuu watching the two uncertainly, cut in, "So I think we should um, uh," once he got their attention he faltered, "uh, t-talk about the case."

"We _are_ talking about the case, Yuu." Koko replied.

Yuu merely smiled sheepishly, but relieved that the interaction between Mikan and her partner had momentarily paused.

"Start with his coworkers" Hotaru stated authoritatively and monotonously, "Who he's working with at the time. Check the customers too. I'll find what's wrong with the tapes."

Mikan secretly marvelled at how confidently Hotaru stated that she _will _find something instead of the usual 'I'll see what I can do' statements.

"He's a good shot," Kitsuneme added, "assuming it's a 'he'."

"Right?" Koko agreed, "Sneaky shot through the crack - hey I wonder if the child-"

"'As a child was exiting the doors,'" Yuu read the police report, nodding, "Good, you two check on that."

As the two left, Anna volunteered, "I think we could probably find the angle of the bullet-"

Nonoko added in, "-match it to a blueprint-"

"find where the killer's coming from."

Before the two left, Yuu lifted his index finger, "I'll get the tapes from the street."

Natsume nodded to Yuu, "get a warrant for his apartment too,"

"-and his locker!" Mikan called out as Yuu stood up.

The remaining members of The A Team at the conference table turned to stare at her.

"You know, like grocery stores have like a storage place for their employees' personal stuff?"

"Oh, yeah," Yuu nodded slowly, "That's a good one, Mikan, thank you."

She grinned, "No problem!"

Natsume rolled his eyes at the exchange.

"So where's your thunder, hm?" Mikan smirked at Natsume, seeing his eye roll from her peripheral view.

"It's the calm before the storm." He replied curtly, standing up and striding away smoothly.

Mikan made a face, silently mimicking him.

.

.

.

As the police had already found, Joe Smith was normal, but with a living-in-poverty twist.

Yuu couldn't find anything in his bank accounts, he apparently didn't have a computer, an only child with both parents dead since he was ten.

Hotaru, with well-guarded frustration, reported that the cameras within the store on the embezzlement was clean. Someone was real sneaky with that money.

Koko and Kitsuneme reported from the police station that nobody knew or claim to know who the child was. So there was a dead end.

Mikan and Natsume had returned quickly, stating that the victim's trailer was turned inside out. They didn't know who, and the culprits left no evidence. They couldn't even tell if the culprits found what they wanted. Another dead end.

When they added up all the dead ends, Yuu apparently opened another door for himself. "So our killer has cleaned up his mess right? Maybe we can clue in on our next victim."

"Yuu, you're a genius!" Mikan exclaimed, causing Yuu to blush slightly.

Natsume rolled his eyes, "Alright, try to find a connection somewhere, Yuu. Mochu and Anna, check out the store. I'll go and check the lockers."

Hotaru cut in, "The vic's entire trailer was trashed. So what if they didn't find what they wanted-"

"They might go back!" Kitsuneme snapped his fingers, "Koko and I will check it out."

"Am I going with Natsume or...?" Mikan asked, not hearing that she got an assignment.

"Mikan, I think you being with him is just implied whenever he says 'I'." Koko laughed.

.

.

.

"Alright," Mochu started as they neared the grocery store, "the people working here are mostly ghetto black girls -"

Anna gasped, "Mochu! That's rude!"

He only shrugged, "but it's true. I've been here before."

Anna gave him a reprimanding look but continued, "Okay we're new to the area, we want to get a feel of the neighborhood."

Mochu stared at her, "in a grocery store?"

"Keep your eyes on the road!" Anna nearly shrieked, "Fine, you come up with something."

"I was," Mochu rolled his eyes, "we're looking for a job and wanna know how it's like, got it?"

"That's definitely what I just suggested."

Mochu rolled his eyes as he turned off the engine of his car, "honey, don't you start with me."

Anna paused for a moment, before leaving and slamming the door, "wait are we starting now? You just called me honey."

Mochu grabbed her arm as he passed her to pull her along, "What did I just say?"

Anna frowned, "I'm confused." But Mochu didn't bother explaining.

When they entered the store, Anna scanned the area, and Mochu picked up a shopping basket, shoving it in his partner's hands.

Startled, Anna looked down, barely registering that she's now holding a shopping basket. She leaned towards Mochu and whispered, "What the heck - they're all black and female!"

Mochu randomly picked up a box of cookies, "And you said_ I _was rude." He glanced at her as she squinted to examine the employees' faces. "Can you be more obvious?"

Anna turned to Mochu, then down at the added weight to the shopping basket, "What?"

"Have you been in the city before? Do you live under a rock?" Mochu asked, but continued before she could answer, "Geez, Anna, blend in a little, will you?"

"Okay, okay - she looks like she's been here for long."

The two approached a rather large african-american woman reorganizing mangoes.

"Hey," Mochu started, to draw her attention. Once she turned to him, he continued, "you make a lot of bank?"

Anna looked at him strangely, and Mochu quietly muttered, "bank is money."

"Oh, hell no," The woman turned to him fully, jerking her head towards the bakery section, she commented, "they do though." She stared at him, then at Anna, "You two interested?"

"yeah," Mochu nodded once, "you hear anything about them hiring?"

"Oh I'd be the first to apply if they did," the lady already knew Mochu's next question, "we are though. Don't pay much, but still payin'."

"Yeah, I heard something about a guy who just got fired - what's that about?"

"Oh man," the woman leaned on the mangoes, "Joe Smith used to work all the time, and he stole money? uh-unh," she held her hand up in disapproval, "heard that's a lot of money though. I be sittin' here like working hard and he just taking all that money, nuh-uh, that ain't gonna happen on my watch. I don't care if this sound like I be snitchin' but that money, though, if I don't get any- I ain't keepin' mum."

"Haters gonna hate!" Anna spoke up for the first time. Mochu glanced at her warily just as the woman who had the nametag Tashia look at her strangely, but was relieved to see Tashia smile and nod slowly.

"Yeah," she said, "I just do my thing, y'know."

"Yeah, I see you rollin'" Anna swatted her hand at the employee, nodding like she knew what she was saying.

Mochu looked at Anna wide-eyed, while Anna smiled hopefully at the store employee. But not for long, for the woman called Tashia reared back in offense, "'scuse me? You callin' me fat? You want me to roll for you, huh? Girl, I will roll you down."

"I - I didn't-" Anna stuttered, she leaned towards her partner, "Mochu, I didn't call her fat."

Mochu leaned near her ear, "Rolls also means fat. It's just the way you say it, hon'."

"I - I was just pointing out how pretty you are! Uh, with your rolls!" Anna tried to placate the lady, which oddly worked.

Tashia stared at her for a long moment, then shook her head slowly, speaking to no one and everyone at the same time, "This bitch be trippin'."

Anna furrowed her eyebrows, muttering to Mochu, "but I'm not tripping over anything!"

Mochu nearly facepalmed.

.

.

.

Unfortunately for Anna, the whole team heard their conversation.

At the locker bay, Natsume pinched the bridge of his nose, "This is _not _happening."

Mikan nearly tripped over flat ground laughing, it took her almost five minutes to calm down enough to say, "Did she get that from that really old song-"

"White and Nerdy?" Natsume cut in, raising a brow at her.

"I was gonna say Ridin' by Chamillionaire but that works too."

"Who listens to the original?" Natsume scoffed.

Mikan made a face at him, "the people who made the parody, duh."

There was a sudden loud clank as Natsume opened a locker he thought may be interesting. Its contents completely drew his attention, "Hn."

Mikan peeked over, hearing his thoughtful 'hn'; not really thinking very deeply about the fact that she just deciphered his different 'hn's.

"_Hm_." Mikan echoed. Then blinked, noticing that they just opened a random locker, "Is this legal?"

"After we get a warrant for whoever owned this, yeah."

.

.

.

Back at the front of the store, Mochu tried to remedy the situation by adding comments of his own, but ended up rambling about nothing in particular.

Mochu randomly glanced over his shoulder, and was beyond glad to see Koko and Kitsuneme 500 meters or so away. He already planned in his head that Koko and Kitsuneme will take over while he and Anna are gonna have some quality time where the latter will learn about the ways of the street, figuratively.

When they arrived, however, Koko threw his arm over Anna's shoulder, while Kitsuneme threw his arm over Mochu's shoulder. The pair grinned from ear to ear, greeting their african-american audience delightfully, patting the FBI agents' backs, then retreating quickly. They quietly explained that they only stopped by for a while before heading for the victim's house. (Apparently, it was quite close to the grocery store. Which may explain why the victim didn't have a car or a bus pass or a metrocard.)

Almost half an hour later, as the pair walked away, Mochu turned to Anna, "Who are you?"

Anna looked away sheepishly, "What? I was just, you know, trying to blend in."

"You gone and done the opposite, hon'." Mochu muttered.

"'You went and did the opposite,'" Anna quietly corrected.

Mochu held up his hands in surrender, and the two elapsed into a thoughtful silence as they headed for their car.

When they got in, Mochu didn't even have to glance at Anna before saying, "What's up with you?"

"I don't think Tashia likes him very much." Anna stated without preamble, then adding, "or me."

Mochu glanced at her sarcastically, "Really? I couldn't tell with all the rude remarks."

Anna smiled a little in embarrassment, "I mean, she was like 'he ain't giving me no bank.'"

Mochu looked at her amusedly before turning back to the road, "It's how you use it, Anna, just -" he shook his head, "you think she killed him for the money?"

Anna replied, "I mean apparently she knew he was stealing."

"She has a cousin in the gang." Mochu remembered. "That might be where she could get a gun."

Anna fist pumped the air, "yes! we're going somewhere! No! More than somewhere! I got us a suspect!"

"Excuse me? _You_ got us a suspect?"

.

.

.

Sadly, all the surveillance tapes were shoved in Nonoko's arms because everyone did 'noses' while she wasn't paying attention. ('Noses' is where you touch your nose with your index finger and whoever's last loses. Kind of like someone drawing the shorter end of the stick.)

So Nonoko ate fruit gummies as she boredly scanned through the surveillance tapes. Hotaru was good at getting every angle possible around that police station but...Nonoko grabbed a nearby pen and paper and quickly drew a map of the street, carefully examining the five different screens on her laptop, she drew arrows and cones from which the cameras were located to show the visual path of the camera.

She frowned as she highlighted the blind spots with a pink highlighter. She leaned back as she returned to watching the surveillance tapes again. After much eyeball action, Nonoko decided she'll have a competition with herself (loner status) trying to catch fruit gummies with her mouth. Each time she catches it successfully, she'll try to throw it higher.

At her twentieth try, her eyes caught something in her peripheral view. She tilted her chin down and leaned forward to look more closely when a red gummy hit her nose, bounced off her thigh, and unto the floor.

Nonoko distractedly picked up the gummy, eyes never leaving the screen, right hand pressing a key to rewind, and rewind again.

"Guys!" She spoke for the first time an maybe two hours, then realized her earpiece isn't on, she hastily moved to turn it on, "you guys!" She was nearly knocked off her chair by the amount of arguments she was hearing. Natsume and Mikan arguing with each other wasn't new, but Koko raising his voice? And was that Anna?

"Guys!" She spoke again, louder, Nonoko growled, "I found something!" She remained unheard, so she took the earpiece and yelled at it, "HEY!"

When she put it back on her ear, there was dead silence. Then a meek, "...Nonoko?"

"Yes, Yuu," she replied, "I found something on the surveillance tapes." There was inquisitive silence, in which Nonoko waved her hand in the air impatiently, "I think I got our murderer."

"_I _got our murderer." Anna replied almost pridefully.

"No, I did!" Koko interjected.

"Like, literally," Kitsuneme added, "there's people in our backseat burning holes through our heads."

"I-" the team waited with bated breath, expecting Mikan to say that _she_ found their guy, but instead she continued meekly, "found a clue..."

"Conference, now." Hotaru ordered - quite concisely - for them to meet at the conference table on the A Floor. Nonoko lingered in her lab for a while, knowing she (and Hotaru) are obviously the closest to it.

.

.

.

"I need all information on whoever owns locker 569A67," Natsume instructed as soon as he laid eyes on Yuu. Then added as an afterthought, "at the conference table."

Yuu nodded in understanding, taking his laptop to the table and typing away quickly.

Mochu also brought his laptop, doing a little research to help out Yuu.

Anna spoke up first, "An employee named Tashia knew about the embezzling."

Mikan glanced over to look at Mochu's screen, "Oh," she scoffed, "no."

Mochu looked at her, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"She might hate but she doesn't have it in her." Mikan stated blandly.

Koko went next, throwing his thumb over his shoulder at the elevator, "Well two men were trying to break in vic's trailer."

Hotaru stared at him, as if willing him to go on.

"They won't talk. Didn't bring anything but a gun and a burn phone." Kitsuneme explained.

Yuu spoke up for Natsume, "the locker belonged to a Eli Rodigue,"

"He's part of a gang - they're really clever with their money." Mochu spoke up, and everyone knows Mochu knows his gangs around here, "There are the masterminds and then the henchmen which are kind of dumb."

"Wait - bring up his picture again?" Koko glanced over Yuu's shoulder, "Hey that's one of the guys!"

"Good." Natsume grabbed the case files, "Hotaru and I will interrogate. Yuu send everything on Rodigue to my phone."

Yuu nodded, then paused, looking at Nonoko, "Did you say you found something?"

Nonoko smiled, "Yes, thank you for noticing me." She opened her laptop and tapped a few keys, turning the device around for the rest of the team to see, "that hooded figure over there, had to be our killer. He or she is really good at dodging cameras though."

Kitsuneme shrugged, "Eli Rodigue?"

Hotaru frowned, "That's an assumption. There is no assuming here."

There was absolute silence for a quick qhile, before the team moved on to other matters.

.

.

.

Koko and Kitsuneme laid back on the couch, throwing popcorn in the air, "case closed!"

"And to think this morning we were at a dead end," Anna theatrically wiped her brow.

Mikan shrugged, "We got the man who framed him."

"and the murderer?" Mochu tried correcting but ended up with a question.

"Well he never confessed to the murder. Honestly, I don't know if he could pull that off." Mikan frowned. "Why didn't he just shoot the vic when he was outside? Why kill him after he walks inside?"

"Maybe he was caught by surprise? Late reaction?" Koko shrugged.

"It's not that hard," Kitsuneme tried envisioning the moment, "just shoot before the door closes, make sure nobody sees you."

"But the angle!" Nonoko exclaimed, suddenly on Mikan's side, "It's such a weird angle!"

"Let's just come back in the morning, okay?" Yuu reasoned, packing up his things tiredly.

"Alright," Nonoko agreed quietly. They left together, speaking almost inaudibly with each other.

Mikan, Natsume, and Hotaru stayed as per their usual recently. The rest of the team didn't question it, but rather accepted it without question.

It had hardly been an hour before Mikan brought up the topic of their mystery woman. "I've been here two months, and she's made two attacks. Do you see a pattern?"

"Yeah," Natsume replied quickly, "you're bringing us trouble, and you should quit."

Mikan growled at him, "shut up."

Hotaru shrugged, "this makes the third month. Nothing has happened yet."

They spoke too soon.

The elevator ding-ed and Mikan shook her head as she stood up, "Oh, _no_."

Nonoko and Yuu walked in in perfect health.

"Oh." Mikan cocked her head as Natsume and Hotaru raised their eyebrows.

Then Yuu collapsed, causing Nonoko to panic and Mikan to see a gash on his back.

"Yuu!" Two out of three girls present exclaimed.

Hotaru merely stood up, grabbing a first aid kit, stating calmly, "I know how to stitch."

Natsume, who remained seated, looked straight at Nonoko, "you tell us what happened."

.

.

.

Nonoko and Yuu were heading home, since they live in the same direction. They were just at the point where they separated when something seemed off. There was barely anybody on the streets, and the people that were there were gone a few seconds.

They were a little bit spooked but at least they had each other.

All of the sudden, Nonoko heard some whizzing noise and she turned and saw a knife heading straight for her! Next thing she knew, she was on the ground and Yuu was on top of her! Well, not like that - but, you know, he saved her life.

Then this woman in a hood appeared at the end of the street from where the knife came from - it was too dark to see her face, or her at all, really. She spoke pretty loudly, but had this smirking kind of voice, "You know what really annoys me? When another person takes credit for something amazing like that throw, or, _hm_, a gun shot."

Nonoko tried to get up and apparently Yuu was having a hard time getting up - which later, she found was because of his knife wound on his back. The knife had grazed him as he tacked Nonoko down.

"You killed Joe Smith..." Nonoko muttered to herself, then spoke loudly, "Who are you?"

"Hm, someone your whole team will get to know very well." The woman replied.

"Why did you kill him?" Nonoko asked, referring to their victim.

The shadow's shoulders lifted, "For fun."

"You are a horrible person." Yuu spoke strongly.

The woman sniggered, "just kidding! I just wanted you guys to have the case. It was fun watching you."

She turned, but paused, "Oh yeah, that was number two: I'm watching you." Then just like that, she was gone.

.

.

.

Mikan stared at Yuu's back - Hotaru's "masterpiece". After a moment, she glanced at the said artist, "I thought you said you knew how to stitch."

Nonoko winced, peeking at the wound, "I'm so glad we gave him anesthetics."

"Is this why you didn't finish medical school?" Mikan asked.

Natsume glanced at Hotaru smirkingly, "You didn't succeed in something?"

Hotaru scowled, "I didn't finish medical school because I didn't want to."

Before they could say any more, a new visitor arrived.

Ruka joined the group, chirping, "Hi! I knew you guy would still be here. Hey, Hotaru." he turned to glance at a limp body on the couch, "ooh, what happened to him?"

"Hotaru happened," Mikan half-sniggered, half-stated.

Ruka stared for a moment, "Oh, are those -"

"Yeah." Nonoko nodded, pointing to a needle that has been recently cleaned.

"Oh," Ruka nodded, looking at Hotaru, "That's very - that's -" he nodded, "they're...nice."

Hotaru scoffed, stalking away.

"So if Hotaru..." Mikan glanced at her waist, thinking of her injury from the mystery woman's first attack, "then who..." she looked at Natsume with wide eyes.

Natsume, sensing her stare, looked at her gruffly, "What?"

"You stitched my-" Mikan touched her waist, then gasped, "Did you take off my shirt?!"

Both Nonoko and Ruka gasped, looking at Natsume.

Natsume rolled his eyes, "You don't have anything to hide anyway," he muttered to her as he walked past, and out.

"Excuse me?!" Mikan stomped after him.

Nonoko smiled, turning to Ruka, "I think they're cute."

Ruka nodded, grinning, "don't let them hear you say that."

/

sorry if there are plot holes, I finished this in a hurry. Like tonight.

GUYS I TRIED TO UPDATE OKAY BUT SCHOOL SUCKS. SO I STAYED UP FOR YOU ALL even though I had an english essay and a lot of math homework and physics homework.

I'm failing all my classes (ish). Brb while I cry in a corner.

edit: so I quickly scanned and pheew I wonder how you guys didn't pick up on my money plot holes -_- tell me if there are more that I missed!


	5. 3

Stress just drives me to another world where I can forget about reality for a second - or more.

This one's a little bit more serious. -_- sorry.

.

.

.

"You what." Mochu deadpanned.

"You rented three apartment suites for us?" Yuu's jaw dropped.

"Hotaru does care!" Koko exclaimed theatrically.

"It's convenient." Hotaru explained simply. It's closer to their building and their operation; they're closer to each other. Since their attacker attempted to pick them apart one at a time, they're better together. The only downside was that they were all in the same building. It made it easier for the enemy to attack them all at the same time.

"You did tell us we're in danger, but this is just - who is after us?" Kitsuneme asked in oblivion.

Hotaru stared at him blankly, and Koko's jaw dropped, "You don't know!"

Hotaru merely restated, "This is just a precaution."

"But there's nine of us." Mikan frowned, "Why did you only rent three apartments?"

"They all had three bedrooms," Hotaru shoved the apartment flyers at the team.

"Hotaru was being cheap," Ruka laughed, as a way of explanation.

"Where are _you_ gonna stay?" Mikan frowned.

"I live around here, I'll be okay." Ruka smiled reassuringly.

Mikan let out a small, "oh," and the crowd elapsed to a silence.

"Let's move in today!" Koko exclaimed excitedly.

.

.

.

**The A Team**

_Aspirator_

.

.

.

"She could attack any one of you," Hotaru was leading the meeting that day. She started with a quick briefing on their mystery woman, "She prefers close contact, so always keep a knife around and handy. Never go out alone."

"The buddy system?" Mochu exclaimed, "What are we, in kindergarten?"

"Fine, go out and get yourself more injured, that's no problem at all. It's not like you'll be slowing us all down or anything." Hotaru retorted sarcastically.

Mochu shrank in his chair.

"Narumi's caught up in his shit - whatever he's doing," Hotaru continued heartlessly, "We're on our own as always. There's two priority cases on our dock. I will be working both cases or wherever needed most. Natsume, Mikan, Yuu will be on kidnapping case #786. Nonoko, help them whenever is needed, but you will mostly be with everyone else on the cult case. After those are finished we need to get on top of the next two kidnapping cases." The team nodded at her directions. "Time is ticking," she dismissed, allowing the members to spread out around their floor, working quickly.

.

.

.

"_This is Southern Texas News Network reporting live from the press meeting at Washington D.C. with the FBI representative."_

"_The rumors are true - there is a so-called cult threatening the security of our federal agents, yes there has been two deaths," _noise in the paparazzi interrupted his speech, but he pushed on, "_do not worry, Americans, we have our best team on the case."_

There was zzt- from the TV as a tattooed hand pressed a button on a remote to turn the screen blank.

A scoff came from another end of the dingy room, as a deep voice spoke, "The best. And they said their terrorist team was the best. Look where they be now, huh? Three feet under the ground, that's where."

A man with glasses spoke up from another side of the room, "We have about 300 possible targets in the terrorist sector of the FBI, they won't be able to find us 'til it's too late."

A strong man with the tattooed hand grunted, "stop talking and move your lazy asses on to victim number three."

When the men stood up and gathered their things, the leader tapped his foot impatiently. He watched them for a second before yelling, "Let's go! We need to get ready before she arrives."

"She? Who's she?" Another tattooed guy muttered to the man in glasses.

"Oh," the man in glasses looked at his phone, "they'll never guess - some lady that just started on some terrorist hunt - Shoudah or something."

.

.

.

"They are obviously going to come after you, Perms." Koko folded his arms as he lounged on Sumire's sofa in her office. He watched as Sumire packed her essentials for her trip to Southern Texas. "Sumire."

"Koko," Sumire replied, rolling her eyes, "I haven't even gotten on my flight, which," she glanced at her gold watch, "is in two hours. These cases are getting to your head. And anyway, calling them a cult is an exaggeration. You're a registered psychoanalyst, you should know. What do they even worship?"

"Killing FBI agents." Koko replied readily, "They already killed two, Perms."

Sumire frowned at him, pausing for a second, before resuming shuffling papers.

"You want me to explain," Koko stated confidently.

Instead of agreeing, Sumire drawled sarcastically, "Please read my mind, I love it when you do that."

But Koko ignored her, "They're gonna try to pick the most unexpected people and who's more unexpected than someone that JUST got on a case - even before that someone got on the case. But look at your resume! You've closed every single 'hunting' case, because you're just that good of a tracker. _Of course_ they have to get rid of you."

"I know I'm awesome, thank you," Sumire replied boredly. Finished with her packing, she stopped to look at him, "That's really sweet, but not at the same time because I can definitely take care of myself." She held her chin high as she stated proudly, "'look like a cat, fight like a tiger.'"

Koko chuckled at her improvised motto. Deciding to save his breath, he warned, "Just be careful."

Sumire headed towards the door, rolling her eyes as she tucked her purse under her arm, "You're such a worrywart."

Koko grinned as he turned in his chair along with her movements, "I'm the worrywart? Please, honey, who almost lost her weave when I didn't show up for our wednesday lunch, hm?"

"Don't call me honey" Sumire gestured for him to get up, taking out her office keys, "And I have a perm, not weave!"

"Fine, another term for it would be extensions." Koko corrected himself as he approached Sumire lazily.

"That was ages ago! You cannot hold prom over my head for forever." Sumire scowled, "and extensions were cool back then, okay?"

"So perms are cool now?" Koko feigned looking around the office as he walked with her to the elevator, "I think you're the only one, permy."

"I hate you." Permy frowned at him, but her eyes held no dislike. She shoved at him playfully, for show, but he dodged, grinning with full knowledge it annoys her to no end.

"Love you too, perms!" He called at her just before the elevator doors shut.

Then his smile dropped as he speed dialed Hotaru to get her started on something he'd like her to do.

.

.

.

"_do not worry, Americans, we have our best team on the case." _

_A reporter raised his hand, "what about the kidnapping in San Antonio?"_

"_Yes, what about it?"_

"_Was it an ordinary man or a cover-up of marine?"_

"_There was no cover-up. It was a U.S. marine, and we do have our best on that case too. We will find her."_

"Turn that up louder, eh?" A light voice spoke from a clean hotel room.

A woman silently pressed the volume up button on the TV remote.

The man listened, then chuckled, "We on the TV now, how about that, eh?"

The woman remained adamantly silent, then spoke darkly, "You can stop with the Canadian accent. I know who you are."

The man chuckled, coming around the bed to face the woman handcuffed onto the bed post. In a completely different voice, he replied, "see, that's what I've always admired about you. You're just so smart, and you could always figure me out."

"Not always," the woman replied coldly, "I didn't think you could pull this off."

The man grinned widely, "Well, I had a little help."

As if on cue, a darkly dressed woman with a deep hood that covered most of her face but her red, plump lips walked in from the bathroom.

The man, himself, was startled, "M-mistress! How-"

"There's a window in the bathroom, dumbass," the newcomer called Mistress rolled her eyes, "You should've just let me take care of the whole operation, but no, you wanted to pick the location. Now they're sure to find you."

The captive watched with curiosity as the woman bossed the man around. She knew she didn't know this woman.

"Who'll find me?" The man panicked, "They can't find me if we keep moving like you said."

Mistress waved her hand lazily, "they'll still find you."

"But you'll-"

"I'm not here to help you," the woman interrupted impatiently.

The captive felt her eyes on her, and heard the click-clack of the woman's heels before she looked up into a baby doll face and baby blue eyes.

The eyes narrowed elegantly at her, before returning to normal, and the red lips curved into a smile. Mistress cocked her head to the side, "I'm here to deliver a message."

"To her?!" The man asked incredulously, seeing that he has been dismissed, "from who?"

Both women completely ignored him as the captive said nothing but paid full attention.

Mistress smirked, and spoke quietly, "when they rescue you...in due time. You have to talk to the one named Mikan, and only her, and remind her of your adventure in '01 at Baghdad...the last one. You remember that, no?"

The captive narrowed her eyes, "How could I forget?"

"yes, of course, good. After that, you can go on with your life as you please - or not go on," the captive felt a chill in her spine as the Mistress chuckled darkly, "beware, Marine. You're a loose end."

The woman didn't even bother to glance at the man before she left from where she came in.

The captive turned to stare at the man darkly, "they'll find you anyway. You'll have a shorter sentence if you just let me go."

The man laughed brashly, "sure...after I take care of some of my needs." He grinned, baring his teeth, "why do you think you're tied to the bed?"

The marine's eyes widened and she screamed amidst the man's brash laughter.

.

.

.

"You got any leads? Their position? Got an address somewhere in Southern Texas? C'mon guys, I thought we were the best! The whole nation's counting on us!"

Anna turned to Koko, throwing her arms up in stress and frustration, "Koko! Would you chill out? We've been on this case for a whole," she glanced at her watch, "hour. Half of which you weren't here for."

Koko scratched his head, smiling sheepishly, "Sorry - I just -"

"I know," Anna returned to her laptop on Kitsuneme's desk, "'the whole nation's counting on us.'"

"And the whole nation to Koko apparently is just Sumire." Kitsuneme added from beside Anna.

Koko growled at them, retorting, "the whole nation to you is Anna!" When he saw Kitsuneme and Anna blush, he grinned, "yeah, that's right, get at me."

"Koko!"

Koko jumped at the sound of his namesake, nearly tripping over himself in his haste to reach the speaker. "Well, what?"

Yuu nodded grimly, glancing at the window-walls of his office almost completely covered in evidence or writing by an erasable black marker. "You were right."'

"Good," Koko answered immediately, "You can award me later, go on, what else?"

"They've set up shop in Southern Texas."

"They're already there? Any exact location?" When Yuu shook his head, Koko paced back and forth in front of Yuu in thought, "so they're planning an ambush. Ambushing an ambush, okay, we can do that."

"We?" Yuu asked in surprise, "didn't Hotaru tell you?"

"What?" Koko paused to look at him.

"We're not going anywhere."

"WHAT?!" Koko yelled in his face, causing Yuu to jump and almost drop his glasses, "I'm gonna be right here, in Manhattan, an entire country away while some crazy cult plan to, I don't know, intercept Permy's welcome party?"

.

.

.

Sumire growled in Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. She did not need a welcome party.

Well what she got wasn't much of a welcome party. Just a sketchy looking man and a sign with her name spelled wrong - which she found was grating on her nerves.

She walked past the man with purpose, as if she didn't recognize the name at all. Though technically, it wasn't her name.

Unbeknownst to her, there was a well-groomed, official looking man on the other side of the airport, purposely mislead by members of the cult.

Sumire glanced around every once in awhile, feeling like she was being watched. She shook her head; Koko's paranoia is getting to her.

If only she knew how right she was.

A man sitting in a cafe on the second floor watched her movements on the first floor. He narrowed his eyes, he speed dialed a burn phone, and the man holding the sign picked up. He spoke without preamble, "She avoided you. Move to position C."

He glanced away from his subject quickly to make sure his man was going the right way.

He nodded once when the man looked up to make eye contact with him. He searched for his victim again, spotting her heading out the doors. He chuckled darkly, _it's a good thing we planned this like an obstacle course._

.

.

.

"We don't even have actual members of the cult yet!" Koko threw his hands up in frustration, tapping at his laptop angrily.

"We have one, Koko," Nonoko replied from her lab, talking through the ear piece. "Anna, I need help in the lab! Oh and another lead - I found the poison to kill victim number two."

"I traced a burn phone to our one lead," Mochu added in. Kitsuneme stole his information electronically, causing Mochu to say, "hey! what - oh," he groaned, "_Kits_."

"Hey, I'm helping you out." Kitsuneme explained as he rapidly tapped keys.

There was a productive silence for a while before a victorious shout from Kitsuneme, "Oh got a signal!"

Koko and Mochu crowded near his computer, as Kitsuneme explained, "I tap into his phone - when he makes a call, we can hear it. He's making a call right now," he pressed a button. It wasn't long before the dial tone stopped.

"_She declined the cab, sir." _

"_Smart move." _the voice commented lightly, then instructed, _"Go to position D. Has number one taken the bus?"_

"_Yes, sir."_

There was a click as the call ended.

The three men looked at each other in confusion. Koko inferred first, "Okay that's one miss, or maybe they've already taken a shot at her. They're gonna keep trying." He nodded to Kitsuneme as Mochu went back to his computer, "watch the phone, trace to where it called and we can tap into the other phone."

"I don't think that was legal you guys!" Yuu protested into his ear piece from his office.

But no one had time to scoff at Yuu for Imai's voice came through, "Yome, in my office."

Within a minute, Koko knocked on Imai's door. A second later, there was a click as a lock was unlocked.

He cautiously walked in, "You have access?"

"Yes." Hotaru pulled up on her many screens the security cameras to the airport. Her eyes scanned the changing screens for a while, then it stopped. She pointed to a screen on the top left, "there she is."

Koko saw Sumire with her tote bag. She was being helped into a bus. She seemed to sense something wrong, for suddenly, she kneed the man in the guts (or maybe lower) and took off. Koko was so glad she packed light for that trip.

Koko followed eagerly as Hotaru continued to change screen to follow Sumire's path.

After a few minutes, however, Koko's eyes searched the many screens desperately. Finally, he sighed, "we lost her."

"It's Shouda," Hotaru commented dispassionately, "she'll be fine. If not..."

Koko interpreted Hotaru's meaning, "she has too much pride to call me if she's in real trouble. It's just like her to want to handle it on her own."

.

.

.

In an abandoned motel in San Antonio, only one room was occupied, and it was nearly a nightmare for a certain kidnapped marine.

She fought him, and she fought, but that only seemed to turn him on even more. Still, she fought until she could fight no more.

She nearly fainted of exhaustion, giving him full access...until she heard, faintly, a strong deep voice yell, "Peter Rogers? FBI! Open the door!"

The man gritted his teeth, "so close, dammit," he uncuffed her from the bed only to cuff her hands together. He dragged his captive across the hotel room abusively.

She was so tired, she dragged her feet on the floor. She attempted to scream, but only a strangled cry came out.

Peter on the other hand, knew that the feds were bound by law, therefore could not barge in without a cry of help, and he was counting on that.

He heard the front door get kicked open. He cussed under his breath. Leaving his captive by the bathtub, he made a beeline for the window. He had made it too; jumping out just as the bathroom door opened.

But he was slammed on the ground immediately after he landed. He felt his hands get handcuffed, and twisted around to see a young brunette smirk at him, "good try," she told him, before shoving his face back in the dirt.

Mikan led the man to other police scouting the place before joining her partner. Natsume was leading the lady out of the house and EMT had immediately wrapped a towel around her shoulders when Mikan approached.

"hey," Mikan greeted lightly, but the woman narrowed her eyes at her, then widened it in realization.

Puzzled, Mikan reached for her, "you okay?"

The woman immediately flinched, rearing back, "don't touch me," she hissed.

Mikan snatched her hand back incredulously. Natsume frowned, patting the victim's back, muttering, "it's okay."

The victim nodded, still glaring at Mikan, but allowing Natsume to lead her away.

Mikan bewilderedly sat in the car. After a moment, Natsume joined her, turning on the engine.

"What was that?" Mikan blurted.

Natsume shrugged, "she doesn't like you."

"...I can tell." Mikan rolled her eyes, "but why? I am so much more friendlier than you!"

Natsume smirked, "Maybe she goes for the more charming one"

She scoffed, "please, don't flatter yourself." Mikan paused, "sometimes, I wonder why Mochu's the one contributing the most to the douchebag jar when you should be."

"Women don't care what I say as long as I'm talking to them." Natsume explained casually.

"...Do I not count as a woman then?"

Natsume replied quickly, "Yup."

"Mean-ass." Mikan growled, "But she didn't need to cling unto you like that, geez."

He glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, "Someone's jealous."

"Not of you!" Mikan protested, "I didn't do anything to her and she's just like flaunting her dislike of me like, 'ha, I like him better than you, bitch.'"

Natsume smirked, "but it's true."

"That's not my point."

There was a quiet pause before Natsume replied, "All I did was say two words anyway." When Mikan scowled, Natsume continued with a half-shrug, "Maybe I'm just a victim magnet."

Mikan wrinkled her forehead, "I don't think that's something to be proud of."

Natsume paused, then nodded once, "I do."

Mikan rolled her eyes, laughing lightly, "I think I've mentioned only a billion times but you weird Natsume, just a little bit."

"I think the better term is charming."

"Maybe this is why you are so full of yourself," Mikan shook her head, "you sneakily compliment yourself whenever possible."

"At least I'm not degrading you to make myself feel better."

"Why, thank you." Mikan rolled her eyes playfully, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "You're so kind, _Prince Charming_."

He frowned lightly in thought, "well, that's a step up from asshole."

She looked at him incredulously with moon shaped eyes as laughter swelled up within her, then her head tilted back as she laughed wholeheartedly. He didn't know what she thought was so funny, but his lips curved slightly upwards with her.

.

.

.

Sumire tried to control her breathing as she walked amongst the crowds in the city. She also tried to calm her heart.

She frowned thoughtfully. She'd never admit it in real life, but Koko was right. She hated when he was right.

She glanced at her pocket where she held her phone, but she shook herself of the thought. She can handle this. She's avoided five attempts for her life now - she'll just disappear and double-back to stop the chase.

Her face shined with determination as she thought angrily, _they'll never know what hit them_.

.

.

.

"Mikan, our rescued Marine will only talk to you." A puzzled Yuu walked up to Mikan.

Mikan furrowed her eyebrows, "what?" She glanced at Natsume, "she didn't even want to look at me earlier."

Yuu shrugged, "first she said it was safer she come down here, she told us the information, then she wants to talk to you in private. I said we could only keep her in the interrogation room, and she said as long as the audio is turned off."

Mikan frowned, "uh...okay, sure, I guess. What's the harm, hey?"

Natsume and Yuu followed her, walking in the watch room as she walked in the interrogation room.

The woman was leaning against the wall, but snapped her head up when Mikan walked in. She got to the chair with its back facing the mirrored window before Mikan.

When Mikan stared at her in puzzlement, she explained, "You sit across from the mirror so they can't read my lips."

The agent nodded slowly, going to her seat, "okay...you're cautious."

"Its what kept me alive." She spoke darkly, "my name is Savannah May."

Mikan nodded again, "I...know..."

"do you?" She leaned forward, "because I remember you but you don't remember me."

Mikan folded her arms, "am I supposed to?"

"yes. From Baghdad in '01." She watched Mikan's blank face, "You don't remember? I was your first nearly failed mission."

She had no memories of 2001 - it was more than ten years ago. Mikan narrowed her eyes but said nothing.

"Imagine my surprise when I saw you." The woman suddenly scoffed in disbelief, "How dare you join the FBI? How dare you pretend to be one of us?"

Mikan couldn't decide if she should be offended or confused, "I don't understand."

"You kill people." The woman narrowed her eyes at her, "And my team was one of them. We were in your way, and we knew too much. So you had to kill us all."

"But you're alive."

"But you killed my entire team. I had evaded you for a while, for two weeks. We thought it was a hit team. But it was just you. You were a teenager then." THe woman shook her head, staring far away, "Oh how you fooled us. Who knew a teenager could take out an entire SEALS team? The whole month was a nightmare."

"I would never-"

The woman didn't let her finish as she leaned forward, stating confidently, "You hunted us down. Your code name was Tiger then."

Mikan inhaled quickly but let her continue out of curiosity.

"We were in Baghdad - we've been there for a while on a mission. We just finished, and went out to celebrate. That was when you murdered our leader. You made it look like an accident. Everyone thought he got into that crash because he was too drunk. But we knew better. We knew Nathan. Nathan was better than that."

"How?" Mikan asked, "How did it happen?"

Savannah leaned back, "So you really don't remember."

Mikan said nothing, and Savannah continued, "It was clever. It was the dark of the night - Nathan had gotten a text - said he had to go. So he went alone. We still don't know what you used, but it was some sort of temporary ice. It caused him to skid and drive uncontrollably for a while before crashing to his death. You removed it almost immediately because there were no traces - just signs of his uncontrollable driving."

Mikan inhaled the information, sighing deeply. "I would've never - CIA wouldn't kill SEALs - even traitors - especially not on foreign territory." Silently, she agreed it was very clever.

But Savannah ignored her, "Next was our most reliable SEAL. We were assigned another mission since we were already in Baghdad. By then, Baghdad was our turf - we knew it as well, maybe even better, than a native. We knew every single dark alley, secret tunnel - but you managed to trick us again..."

From the other side of the mirror, Yuu and Natsume watched in mystery as Mikan's face changed from disbelief, to horror, as she continued to deny whatever the woman was saying.

Finally, it escalated to the point where Mikan stood up, slamming her palm on the desk, and they didn't need to be able to read lips to know she yelled, "that's a lie!"

Natsume tensed, but Yuu gently placed his palm out to tell him to stay put.

Savannah stood up to match Mikan's height but spoke quietly. "I was expecting you at night. But you were just full of surprises. You came in broad daylight. You waited 'til I tired out, and you attacked me because you knew I was alone. It was the last day of the month, and I was at my temporary hotel suite."

Sun, burning sun flooded into Mikan's mind. The sun was blinding her, and so was the small swiss knives they were both handling. She was small, agile, faster than her opponent. She whirled and danced around her opponent, dodging her every attack, but being sweated out.

"What angered me most was that you cheated -"

Mikan breath quickened as she saw her younger self grab a nearby lamp in desperation, throwing it at her opponent. A younger Savannah in military uniform fell back on impact, but held her upperbody above the ground, panting heavily.

"You nearly knocked me out, then pointed a gun in my face." Savannah had seen Mikan's face change, "you remember now? You remember my plea for mercy?"

Mikan's face turned aghast with realization, "I-I spared you - I had to. There was a phone call."

Mikan tried to remember more, tried to think, but her brain just kept repeating the same last scene over and over again. She held a phone in her ear, she cursed, and she threw the gun angrily on the ground, causing the young Marine to wince a little, but she stomped out and away from her opponent's life.

"You were annoyed because you were so close." The marine told her, finally sitting down in satisfaction.

And she couldn't deny it because she couldn't remember what the phone call was about or why she was so angry.

Mikan sat down slowly, warily she asked her, "Why can't I remember anything else?"

"maybe it has something to do with the woman who came to me."

Instantly, Mikan leaned forward, "what woman?"

"she told me to tell you about Baghdad '01."

"what did she look like?"

"blue eyes, red lips, that's all I know."

Mikan's forehead wrinkled, "I feel like I should know this person."

Savannah shrugged, then leaned forward, "you know why I came here? Because I wanted to kill you on your own turf, like you did my teammates." As she said this, she had sneakily reached for the knife in her shoe.

Mikan's eyes widened, just in time to see a flash of metal go at her, but her reflexes were faster. She flipped the table over, but Savannah had dodged it, knife still in her hand, going savagely at Mikan.

Mikan didn't think; she dodged the woman's attacks, breaking her forearm, taking her knife and then twisting the woman's other able arm behind her back to subdue her as she shoved her at the wall, using the woman's knife to press at her throat.

They reached a standstill just as the door opened revealing a bewildered Yuu and a grim Natsume, who was caught between impressed, surprised, and fearful awe. They realized that this all happened in the few seconds it took them to get to this room from the other side.

Mikan seemed to have realized what she was doing when her eyes widened, and she gasped, releasing her pressure on the woman.

Savannah continued to stare at her with hate and gritted teeth as Mikan backed up slowly. She looked down, as if seeing the knife in her hand for the first time, and quickly dropped it as if it was on fire. Mikan looked back at the woman in disbelief, eyes unfocused.

"Mikan?" Yuu asked.

Mikan didn't respond,or even glance at them before she rushed out the door.

Natsume stared after her, but snapped to attention when Savannah reached for her knife. He got there first, placing his foot on the knife and grabbing her wrists, "you are under arrest for attacking a federal agent..."

.

.

.

The A Floor was full of tapping, writing, paper shuffling. Then there was sudden whoop from Kitsuneme's direction. He held his hands up in victory, "I got their hiding place, Koko."

Koko rushed over to him with eye that shone, but frowned at the coordinates.

"The general area," Kitsuneme corrected.

Koko smiled kindly (compared to his usual attitude), "good, that's progress-okay, Hotaru-"

"-has the security cameras on face recognition." Hotaru interrupted impatiently.

"-and-"

"-will trace their movements, yes."

"Oh." Koko muttered quietly, stumped. "Right-um..."

"Koko," Anna voice called softly.

It took a moment for Koko to realize that her voice didn't come from the ear piece. He turned around to see her standing behind him, smiling softly. He stared at her for a moment, "I know what you're going to say. I'm fine."

"I was sure you've been running on caffeine," Anna replied quietly. When Koko, with a grin, only shook his head at her, she nodded towards the lab, "I traced the method of death on both victims."

"Good," Koko nodded, immediately moving to follow her, "we can try to see how they operate, how much resources they have-"

"I have eyes on Shouda," Hotaru interrupted suddenly.

Koko immediately excused himself from Anna, allowing her to do her own research as he U-turned for Hotaru's office.

He had immediately barged in Hotaru's office, heading for the screen when he sensed an annoyed stare from her. He followed her look to her open door, and grinned sheepishly, "oops."

After he had closed the door, however, Hotaru spoke in an almost undetectable awe, "She found them before they found her."

Koko grinned the widest since this morning, Hotaru had noted quietly.

He nudged her with his elbow, he spoke with pride, "I told you she was our best tracker."

"You didn't." Hotaru replied bluntly, but continued, "There's only two heat signatures in the," Hotaru paused, trying to think of better words, but ended up saying, "dump. But I suspect once she gets in there, more will come."

Koko nodded, watching as her figure disappeared from the street camera's view and her heat signature appear on the heat video feed.

"Yuu," Koko called into his ear piece, "we've held off STPD (southern texas police department) long enough, let's call them in." He paused for a second, before he continued without a quiver in his voice, "tell them to bring their EMT."

.

.

.

Koko stole out to the rooftop for a breather, but found Natsume there. He smiled to himself, having heard the story from Yuu. Well, more like pressured the story out of Yuu. But same difference.

"What's up with Mikan?" Koko asked, approaching Natsume lightly.

Natsume knew Koko knew what happened. He shrugged, "She only talks to Imai."

"Imai's busy." Koko frowned, but then he did remember Mikan walking in when he left.

Natsume shrugged.

Koko watched him carefully, "You're hurt."

Natsume disagreed in the silent, solemn way that he does, "I don't care."

"She's been coming to you for problems," Koko recalled.

"-and Imai."

"But this ones different because..." Koko led on, much like a prosecutor.

"I witnessed it."

Koko nodded slowly in understanding, "So it's a matter of pride."

Natsume paused, then responded quietly, "I don't know."

Koko, thankfully, left it at that.

"I heard about Shouda," Natsume repaid the favor.

Koko looked down at his shoes for a moment, then smiled, "is Mochu whining?"

"Hn," Natsume grunted affirmative. Then, in a rare show of emotion, Natsume looked at Koko with confidence. "She'll be fine."

Koko found himself believing it too, "It's Permy, you can't get rid of her that easily." Koko winked at Natsume, a double meaning in his sentence.

Natsume chuckled, remembering how she had chased him despite his many rejections.

.

.

.

Sumire's plan was like this: she wanted to break in their headquarters - or wherever they're staying - steal all their information, which would make them start over from scratch, and then hand the information over Koko or something, which would get them a life sentence before they could even curse.

When she sneaked in, she knew she was screwed because as skilled as she was, she couldn't fight two men twice her size.

But her plan didn't change much, for the two men were watching Victoria's Secret Fashion Show - you know the one with the underwear and bra - so she quietly sneaked in and out. Her heart was pumping so loud, however, that she almost thought the men could hear it.

Sumire breathed a sigh of relief as she hugged the bunches of paper and a flashdrive to her chest. The hardest part was to not get the door to creak as she went out - but she supposed the men were too engrossed in the almost-porn show.

She stuffed the newly acquired items in the tote bag she left outside, and turned around to find two muscled man, and a thin man with glasses standing grimly behind her.

Like a deer caught in headlights, she froze. The frontmost man growled, "thanks to you, I'll never have sex again."

"I didn't mean to do that -" Sumire started, recognizing the man as the one who tried to help her in the cab but she had kneed him and ran. When the man gave her a look, she shrugged, "okay I meant to do that. But-" she looked out past them, her face brightened, "Agent Yome!"

The three men turned around in surprise, giving Sumire ample time to smack the frontmost man in the head with her tote, but was caught by the second man.

Sumire struggled, raising quite a ruckus.

The three men muttered in annoyance at her attempts to get free, slowing down their process in getting inside their safe house.

Suddenly, quick footsteps approached and a strong voice called, "STPD! FREEZE! LET THE WOMAN GO!"

.

.

.

"Apparently, all Sumire wanted to do when she got back was to get a drink." Kitsuneme told Mochu.

Mochu laid on the sofa of their new temporary apartment, "Damn, if Koko hadn't worked us so hard I would've definitely gone."

"It's like crime season or something," Kitsuneme complaining as he sat at the kitchen counter.

Koko emerged from his bedroom, "Y'all coming?" he asked with a grin.

"Nah," Mochu declined.

Kitsuneme thought about it for a moment, then shrugged, "Why not take a break, eh?"

.

.

.

There were sharp, vicious knocks on the door. Mikan scowled from position on the sofa, wrapped up in blankets, with a laptop on her lap. Hotaru ignored the knocks completely. Natsume sighed, rolling his eyes at the laziness of his roommates.

He was the one to finally get up and get the door.

He was met with an hassled Koko, tired Anna, and frowning Kitsuneme.

"Let me guess," Natsume spoke as he led them in, "You two left when we told you not to and some woman attacked you. You went to Anna first but she brought you guys here."

"Wow, Natsume!" Koko exclaimed as he helped himself on the sofa, causing Mikan to scoot over, "You're so psychic sometimes!"

Natsume only rolled his eyes at him.

"You missed the part where I called Sumire to cancel on her on the way here." Koko smiled cheekily.

Natsume didn't respond as he went to get some water.

Hotaru finally emerged from her room, "It's the third month you've been here," she nodded at Mikan, "and third attack. She's very punctual."

Mikan agreed silently, then asked their guests in concern, "Are you two hurt anywhere?"

"They have a few scratches that I'm patching up right now," Anna answered for them as she pulled out the first aid kit.

"Yeah, yeah, we're okay," Kitsuneme swatted at Mikan, "The important thing is that she told us she was the one who killed everyone else, from our cult case! It was her!"

"I guess she helped us...but in a scary way," Anna commented as she finished bandaging Kitsuneme's arm.

"She's not helping us," Natsume contradicted darkly, "she's speeding things up."

Hotaru glanced at Natsume, uncertain if he really knew what was going on or not.

On the other hand, Mikan was focused on other things, "What did she say, Koko?"

Koko frowned, "She said, 'this is number three, old habits die hard."

Natsume watched as Mikan's face tensed.

Wanting to dissipate the suddenly tense atmosphere, Kitsuneme flopped on the sofa, "I just can't believe she won!"

"That was so sneaky!" Koko agreed as Anna bandaged his arm, "I didn't even see that knife - it came out of her sleeve. How do you hide a knife-"

"-in your sleeve-" Kitsuneme interrupted,

"-without getting cut!" Koko finished.

"A knife case, strapped to the forearm." Mikan found herself answering, standing up.

Four eyes turned to her in surprise. Kitsuneme furrowed her eyebrows, "But, how did she get it out only when she wanted to?"

Instead of explaining with words, Mikan deftly took out a knife with her right hand from her right shoe. Her face was blank as she held the knife over her left forearm with the sharp part pointing to her shoulder, as it would be if it was in a knife case, "there's a flap," she said, "it comes loose when you jerk a certain way," then she proceeded to jerk her arm, letting go of the knife with her right hand. As the knife fell, she caught the handle with her left hand, flipping the sharp part from pointing to her shoulder to pointing to her foot. All done in a flash.

Four eyes stared at her in a mix of amazement, suspicion, and confusion.

"How did you know that?" Kitsuneme asked in wonder.

"You can keep a knife in Toms?" Koko's statement turned into a question, wide-eyed.

Then Mikan frowned, she looked as confused as everyone else. "I, uh, I don't know, it just, it suddenly came to me. Like an old habit."

"Must be from your training." Natsume stated slowly, carefully.

When his sharp eyes caught a quick exchange of looks between Mikan and Hotaru, Natsume's decided today's the day. He didn't like being kept in the dark - and for so long. He had a few suspicions he needed to confirm anyway.

Once they were gone, Mikan let out an exasperated sigh. "Hotaru, I don't understand any of this. What is she trying telling me? Who is she? All I'm getting from this is just some old habits." She threw her hands up in frustration, then plopped down on the sofa.

"That's good. You're starting to match up to her." Hotaru replied.

"But I don't want to just...sit around and I don't know, wait for a miracle to happen while people, our teammates, are getting hurt." Mikan sighed, leaning back, and staring at the ceiling.

Hotaru looked at her sympathetically from her position at her desk with her laptop.

"Then you know how I feel." Natsume muttered.

As if noticing his presence for the first time, Mikan and Hotaru turned to him questionably.

"Tell me what's going on." He demanded, staring directly at Hotaru.

"Okay, sit down." Hotaru replied easily, bringing her laptop to the coffee table and sitting down across from Mikan.

Mikan, sat up, looking between the two in puzzlement. "Wait - does he have something to do with this too?"

Hotaru looked at Mikan, briefly, "More than you know."

Mikan sighed, exasperated, "oh, that's right, I know nothing."

"So what's going on?" Natsume was not to be distracted, "The attacks?"

"We don't know who it is, but we know it has something to do with three years ago." Hotaru said, "She leaves messages for Mikan - messages that only Mikan should supposedly understand."

"But I don't have my memory," Mikan sighed, "so we're all actually confused here." She shrugged, "at least Hotaru's keeping track."

Natsume paused in thought. He remembered their case three years ago, Esprit de Corps. "Who's The Woman?" Natsume asked, eliciting a cryptic smile from Hotaru and a confused "huh?" from Mikan.

"She's The Woman." Hotaru pointed to Mikan.

Mikan stared at the pale finger, then at Natsume. Shifting under his scrutiny, she sputtered, "I -who? What? I am _a _woman..?"

Natsume only stared at her some more, while Hotaru smirked. Mikan looked between the two in confusion. "Uh, okay, could you explain?"

Hotaru monotonously complied, "There was an underground organization. It was called the Alices. They thought they were special, or something," she rolled her eyes at this point, "they were good. Everyone had been trained since they were a child, some since they were 4 or 5. There was one that was taught to hold a knife before she could even walk. Or that's what we were told. That one was you. You had some kind of hero-complex - "

"Must be some mutation or someone dropped you when you were small." Natsume commented, causing Mikan make a face at him.

" - and you decided to be on the good side. So you were our mole in the organization. There was a team of us, put together especially for this purpose. We were to track the Alices down, and finish them. You had to be very safe. The Alices was a very dangerous and very large organization. So you were anonymous but for two people, Narumi and me. Your codename was The Woman," at this Mikan nodded, "At the final battle, we took the Alices down. Here's where it gets blurry. We lost you. We just suddenly lost contact. You were off the radar for a month. Then they found you right outside the hospital, barely alive. You didn't remember a thing. But you still have your skills, most of it. So Narumi thought he might find it useful. He employed you to the CIA. Hyuuga and I were transferred to the FBI and became the first installment of a new project by Narumi, a project called The A Team. That, Mikan, was three years ago."

Mikan sat still for a minute, absorbing the information. Her mind was racing, and all she could see were flashbacks of the Narumi, white walls, and all these bandages. They told her she used to be a CIA agent. That a mission went wrong. "You were a good agent, Mikan." Such a kind voice. Such a lie. All the lies Narumi told her. It can't be, can it?

She nodded slowly, speaking quietly, "That's why you wanted me to remember."

"We want it as much as you do." Hotaru placated.

"And Natsume has to do with this how?" Mikan asked, scowling at the man.

"I worked on the case with her." Natsume answered shortly, "saved your ass a couple of times," he added as an afterthought, smirking.

"Nuh uh! I do not need my ass saved." Mikan lifted her chain, huffing. "Right, Hotaru?"

Hotaru merely shrugged, going back to typing on her laptop.

Mikan ended up making a face at Natsume, who merely smirked at her.

There was a moment of quiet contemplation between the three.

Then suddenly, Mikan spoke up, "Hypnosis."

Two pairs of eyes turned to her in surprise. "It had to be hypnosis," she explained, "to erase someone's memory like - like this. And also to control how long it will be erased."

"That was my theory, but I've yet to figure out how to reverse it." Hotaru replied, looking almost concerned.

Mikan nodded slowly and the conversation ended there.

Natsume and Hotaru then began to talk about a plan of action, something involving training and a message for Mystery Woman...

Mikan sighed. She felt like Hotaru's explanation didn't do much at all. Is Mystery Woman from Alices? Why are they coming back for Mikan? How did they escape? What happened to Mikan three years ago? When is her memory going to come back? Why did they pick this exact time? What are they planning?

Suddenly there was a gentle pat on her head. Mikan looked up, to meet concerned amethyst eyes. She smiled weakly in response. Hotaru nodded, then left.

Mikan stood up too, and turned around to head to a laptop. But was met with a firm chest.

"Go to sleep." A smooth deep voice interrupted her ambitions.

"I...Don't tell me what to do!" Mikan lifted her chin in defiance.

Natsume only replied by promptly turning her around and gently pushing her by the small of her back to her room. Mikan, all the while protesting, ignoring the fact that Natsume's deep soft retorts felt so gentle and his hand felt so warm on her back. She briefly wondered what it would feel like without the cloth in between. Then she almost slapped herself.

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Again, this was rushed. Tell me if I missed anything. Plot holes? Anything.

**Important announcements:**

1. The chapters correspond to the months Mikan's been with TAT.

2. I probably sneaked this in too slyly but Natsume's flashback in an earlier chapter about the masquerade ball is indeed about Mikan. She is The Woman in the flashback, and in the flashback he does not know her identity. He did not know until now.

3. I'm sorry I've been slacking with the process of investigation in solving the cases. But I feel there's so much going on you don't even need it. But do tell me if you feel otherwise.

4. I know, I just completely flipped the whole Gakuen Alice philosophy. ALICES is an _organization_ of bad guys, ok?

5. And I feel like I make Koko too serious but I kind of like Koko's serious side because that makes him more of an important character and less of "just there because we need some humor in the story". But I will try to make him more funny as he should be.

_**6. Esprit de Corps**__ is going to be a story, and it delves into Natsume and Mikan's first encounter and what exactly happened three years ago. Hotaru's explanation was the most summarizing I could manage. In __**Esprit de Corps**__, (If any of y'all are familiar with the term, "shit is going down") shit has gone down and exploded._

I am working on it and it will be a crossover with CCS. You do not need to know ccs to understand the story.

I am planning to post it up along with the next chapter, or earlier. Stay tuned.

7. There will be a new section right after the story called bloopers - mostly for humorous purposes. It was originally intended to be compiled as a "chapter" after the end of the story, but I figured it would make more sense and much more fun if i put the corresponding bloopers after every chapter. And it starts...now.

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**Lights. Cameras. and ACTION!**

"So," Mikan tapped her chin in thought, "if you're Prince Charming, does that mean I'm snow white?"

Somewhere far away, Luna laughed loudly, "HAHA bitch, you're ugly, don't even try."

They both ignored her as Natsume replied, "You're too sunburnt for that."

Mikan gasped indignantly, "TAN! I'm tan! Not sunburnt!" She huffed, "_Men_."

"But there _is_ a vain, annoying evil queen after you I guess."

"That," Mikan agreed, "and the mirror has good taste."

Again, Luna interjected, "You wish you were better looking than I am, psh, I don't need to kill you for that."

Mikan looked at some point past the cameras, "Luna, you're not in the conversation."

"I am now," Luna replied snootily.

Natsume then turned to Mikan with a smirk, "and you are dumb enough to eat a sketchy apple from a creepy old hag."

Mikan gaped dramatically, "you-" she didn't let herself finish the serene before she attacked Natsume. But he held her off...just barely.

"g-guys..." Yuu's voice came timidly from off-stage, "N-natsume you're supposed to be driving..."

The scene zoomed out to a green background with a car in the middle. Natsume's hands are completely off the wheel as technicians off stage simulate a passing of scenery in place of the green screen.

But Yuu's voice was drowned out by Mikan's screech, "get that smirk off your face!"

"**CUT!"**


	6. 4

Savannah May sat in a hotel room, sipping tea. It was a peaceful day - no, it had been a peaceful month. After her encounter with her attempted murderer from ten years ago, she felt a bit lighter.

Yet there was an uneasiness in the air that set her off.

Savannah took a deep breath, trying to shake herself of it - but it was like a bee's buzzing in her senses.

She had listened to them somewhat. She took extra precautions by picking a rural hotel and staying slightly off the grid.

"Room service!" A muffled voice called from the other side of her hotel door.

She smiled to herself, mumbling, "Finally."

She opened the door, to reveal an old woman peering at her tiredly.

"Sign here." the old woman shoved a receipt in front of her, which she took and signed quickly. The woman took the receipt and shoved the tray at her, hobbling away wordlessly.

Savannah shrugged, muttering to herself, "that's what I get for picking a dingy hotel."

Upon looking at her food, Savannah's eyebrows raised, "I paid twenty for this?" She poked around, but shrugged again. She had her share of bad food from her days abroad. Taking a big bite, she gobbled down her food quickly. Within five minutes, her tray was empty. She set it aside and went to lounge on the bed, feeling tired all of the sudden.

"I love retirement," she smiled to herself as she got comfortable and turned on the TV.

A shadow sitting on the ledge of the hotel room's window smirked, "Enjoy it while it lasts."

Slowly, the Marine fell asleep...never to wake up again.

The figure on the window ledge slowly got up, approaching the still form on the bed. Delicate manicured hands of a lady reached out from under a large, dark coat. She pressed the woman's neck to feel for a pulse.

There was none.

The figure left quietly.

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**The A Team**

_Aspirator_

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"Something has come to my attention," A deep voice spoke as a strict, dark-haired and well-dressed man addressed Narumi in his office.

"Something is always coming to your attention, Jinno," Narumi replied easily.

"Your little project," Jinno frowned, "The A Team...They're hiding something."

Though Narumi smiled calmly at his fellow Senior Agent, he felt uneasy. "Everybody has secrets, Jinno."

"Yes, yes," he replied impatiently, quietly grumbling, "especially that new member of yours," sliding his phone with a video pulled up on it across the desk to Narumi, "but this one not only concerns my training academy, but the entire bureaucracy."

He pressed the play button, showing the video feed of the interrogation of Savannah May. More specifically, the end of it.

Narumi watched unwaveringly as Mikan overpowered a Marine and moved to kill in less than half a minute. He quietly noted the way she seemed to be scared of her own abilities as she quickly vacated the room.

"It affects your training academy?" Narumi asked as the video stopped.

"Agent Sakura is supposedly one of ours," Jinno gave him a pointed look, revealing that he knew more than he let on, "this reflects us. If this feed goes out..."

"And that's why you'll destroy that immediately?" Narumi asked tentatively.

If that goes out, they will be more closely watched, and the media, who always blows things out of proportion, may start asking questions about how they're training their agents.

"She's dangerous." Jinno stated forcefully.

"Will this be part of the current scandal with the bureaucracy?" Narumi asked strategically. He knew of the scandal, or chaos, that the public relations department of the bureaucracy was thrown in when Savannah May (also known as the Marine rescued, then murdered) was found dead in a small hotel in a rural town in New York. Apparently, she hadn't traveled very far for "retirement".

Jinno didn't answer the question directly, instead, he stated, "This was not in the report your team turned in. Also, the audio had been purposely turned off." His electric blue eyes hardened as he continued, "There should not be any link from any of our agents to the murder."

Narumi's jaw nearly dropped, "You cannot possibly think-"

"That," Jinno grabbed the phone from his desk, "is evidence of attempted murder and uncontrollable rage. Who knows what your agent can do?"

"She has an alibi," Narumi bluffed confidently.

"She better," Jinno stated as he stood up. "The case has been handed to Misaki." Finally, before he left, he answered Narumi's earlier question, "There cannot be any evidence of a cover-up."

Jinno left without a goodbye.

Though his fellow senior agents never said it, Narumi knew that meant that this cannot lead back to them.

Narumi sat grimly in his office for a moment, standing up abruptly to make a trip to The A Floor.

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When Hotaru warned the team that Narumi was heading up to their floor, they were surprised, then confused...and so they hid.

"Do you think he'll look in the bathroom?" Kitsuneme whispered to Koko from under the stall.

Koko grinned as he whispered back, "it's the first thing he'll think of when he sees that we're not here."

Mochu groaned.

Natsume sat calmly at his desk, rolling his eyes at the antics of his teammates. He watched as Koko, Kitsuneme, Mochu, even Yuu run off to the bathroom. Anna and Nonoko too, not before grabbing a confused Mikan. Hotaru didn't even try to emerge from her lab, he presumed she locked her door.

The elevator dinged. Narumi flounced in gaily, "My darlings-huh? Just you Natsume?" He grinned happily however, "Aww, I knew you would stay to welcome me."

Natsume rolled his eyes, "State your business then go."

"Please," Narumi waved a hand at him as he invited himself to a chair on the conference tale, "we're not in a bank."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the floor, Koko sneaked out from the bathroom to the hallway leading to the loft. "C'mon guys!" Koko hissed behind him, but only saw Kitsuneme. He grinned wider, "You scared?"

Mochu emerged pushing Yuu ahead of him. Yuu muttered, "I can't believe I'm doing this."

"We gonna get busted y'all," Mochu whispered furiously, "hiding behind the corner? He's so close I could feel his perfume!"

"We're not gonna get busted if you stay quiet," Kitsuneme hushed.

Narumi continued with Natsume, handing him the a manila folder,"I got a new case for your team. It used to be a cold case but something interesting has happened."

Natsume sighed in annoyance, snatching the manila folder from him, knowing there was more to it, "Just spit it out."

"You never turned off the video feed for the interrogation with Savannah May." Narumi stated bluntly.

Suddenly, they heard a lock click, and Hotaru emerged. "I deleted that part."

Natsume would just like to note for himself and for the benefit of the "non-existent" audience that he had had guessed correctly that Hotaru locked her door.

Narumi smiled widely, "Why, hello, sweet!"

"Stop." Hotaru growled, "Who got it? How? Who's on the May murder?"

"Jinno showed me, actually. It was very...interesting," Narumi winked at Hotaru, which Hotaru knew to interpret as a reference to an earlier conversation (refer to chapter 3).

"Not Jinno!" A voice was heard around the corner, and immediately four hands moved to cover Kitsuneme's mouth.

"I know you're back there!" Narumi sing-songed, "come on out, dearies, I don't bite!"

"Oh you're worse than that," Mochu shuddered, but slowly dragged himself out along with the other men.

When they joined the three at the conference table, Narumi not-so-subtly hinted, "I think Mikan and the girls need to hear this too."

The women sheepishly walked out from their hiding places.

"Under a desk? Really?" Kitsuneme gasped.

"I heard about the scandal," Mikan sat down next to Narumi, since everyone else took the seats furthest away from him. "I didn't-"

"I know you didn't," Narumi smiled kindly, "I never doubted you for one second."

Mikan smiled softly. Natsume resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the father-daughter-ly exchange.

He continued, "But Misaki might," he nodded at Hotaru, "he's on the case."

Hotaru nodded, noting to herself that Misaki is easy to bribe.

"I'm not gonna try to sugarcoat it," Narumi turned serious, and so did the atmosphere of the room, "you will be under a lot of scrutiny. The authorities don't want any of this to come back to us, and they will take whatever means necessary to make sure of that."

Narumi stood up to a solemn audience. He smiled brightly, "I gotta run, loves," he marched quickly out the door, but not before waving a hand at them, "take care!" They knew he didn't only mean that as a farewell.

Since the team was already situated at the conference table together, Natsume wasted no time in putting up the evidence from the case file on the rolling whiteboard.

"This is a cold case from 2007 on the murders of three children," Natsume stuck three pictures of the victims on the whiteboard using magnets. Taking a whiteboard marker, he wrote under it in a neat, font-like handwriting. Under the pictures he wrote their names, Sarah Sutherland, Amy Sutherland, and Graham Sutherland. Their ages: 6, 8, 10, respectively. "Autopsy were confirmed they were killed within two days of each other, and each body was found about an hour after the killing each time. The bodies were dumped at the exact same place all three times, even after high scrutiny of area."

As he wrote this, the team pulled up various parts of the case as per their specialty. Nonoko and Anna looked at the autopsy reports. While Kitsuneme and Mochu took turns reading the police written reports.

The police reopened the case once in 2010 for another family with three children, suspecting the same M.O. (method of operation), but they could not find a connection and the case has gone cold. They never found the bodies.

The recent development was surprising, to say the least. A man, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere, had contacted the original investigators of the case. He had stated that he had information and would like to arrange a meeting. Before the meeting, however, a street surveillance tape revealed that he was run down by a car. The wounds were somewhat fatal - at least he's not dead...yet - he's still in critical condition.

"We need to find his connection to the case and who tried to kill him." Natsume stated, after a thoughtful pause, he added, "let's operate as two separate cases." He looked around the table, judging everyone's abilities, then ordered, "Anna, Koko, Kitsuneme, and Yuu will work on the cold case. Mochu," he paused, "we're gonna need Sumire on this-"

"Ooh, I'll get her!" Koko jumped up enthusiastically.

Natsume nodded, "Mochu, Nonoko, Sumire, and you," he looked at Mikan, "will be on the attempted murder case. Let's work as fast as we can, in nine hours," he glanced at his watch, "that should be five o'clock, let's put everything together before we break for dinner."

Mikan scowled, mumbling, "didn't even bother saying my name, hmph," as everyone else walked off, she spoke up, "what will you and Hotaru be doing?"

Natsume glanced at the ice queen, "we'll be taking care of Misaki."

"_I_ will be taking care of Misaki," Hotaru smirked as she stalked off.

"fine," Natsume scowled, "don't come to me for help." He turned and walked the other way.

Gaping, Mikan looked between the two, then went to follow Natsume around like a baby duck, bickering here and there about their duties.

"Okay Yuu's gonna trace the phone call to the investigators and Mochu's gonna talk to them and Nonoko's looking at the surveillance tapes and you're gonna try to find out what he knows. So what am _I _gonna do?" Mikan was in another one of those "I-know-Natsume's-shunning-me-again" moods.

Natsume rolled his eyes, "You're an adult, go find something to do."

Mikan made a face at him, "Jerk."

Suddenly, their rusty floor intercom came to life, _"-Mikan Sakura?"_

Mikan blinked as the whole floor paused. She looked at the person closest to her, aka Natsume, "We had an intercom?!"

Kitsuneme snickered, "Yup, that pretty much sums up how much we use it."

"_Mikan Sakura?"_

Yuu helpfully pointed at small box protruding from the wall that she had never noticed before.

"This is kind of like an apartment intercom system," she mumbled as she approached it, pressing the button, she spoke strangely, "yes?"

"_This is Senior Agent Misaki, could you come meet me in my office? It's on the 68th floor, room 56."_

"Uh," Mikan paused, "Is this about the May case? Because Hotaru already went to see you."

"_Ms. Imai? Yes, I know," _the man coughed,_ "I'd appreciate it if you'd come down here too."_ After a pause, _"please, Miss?"_

The whole floor watched tensely as Mikan pressed the button to reply, "Uh-sure." She gave everyone a nervous look as she went to the elevator.

"It's just Misaki, he's cool." Mochu patted her back. "I'm on my way down to talk to the, uh, what's his name?"

"The people our vic last contacted?"

"Yeah, yeah," Mochu waved a hand at her, "most of it is in the police report, but hey, you know, it's like our thing to interrogate people again, you know. It's not like they don't get tired of it, you know."

"Yeah," Mikan dragged the word out slowly, staring at Mochu, "sure."

Mochu grinned at her, "Don't you worry though, Misaki tries to act strict and err'thing, I had him when I was rookie, nah, man, he's so chill, don't worry."

"Seems to me like you're the one worrying." Mikan commented as the elevator doors opened.

"Me?" Mochu laughed loudly, almost shrilly as they both stepped, "Nah, I ain't worried, psh, worst case, you'll get thrown in prison, I mean..." He trailed off and Mikan nodded disbelievingly as the doors closed.

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"The evidence has been destroyed, we're done here." Hotaru was arguing when Mikan walked in.

A middle aged man looked up to see Mikan walk in cautiously. He smiled at her, "Agent Sakura."

"Call me Mikan," she responded in greeting, "Mr. Misaki?"

"Just Misaki." He spoke in turn, indicating the chair next to Hotaru. "As I was telling Ms. Imai here, I am just investigating every angle. This is a high priority case and I'd like to get it," he struggled with the word, "solved, as soon as possible."

Mikan hesitated before blurting, "If you're chasing us down, that means the killer was clean."

Misaki paused in surprise, glancing at Imai, who smirked proudly in turn. He was a soft, subtle kind of man. He spoke softly, he moved subtly. He thought for a moment, then decided it was okay to divulge information, "It was poison. The food was from the hotel catering service. The woman who delivered it got it directly from the kitchen. We watched the surveillance cameras, nothing changed. There's no cameras in the kitchen, but all the workers in there said there was nothing strange going on."

"No trace." Mikan nodded slowly, "so you're looking at something she's been involved in lately?"

Misaki smiled grimly, shuffling papers around just to do something with his hands. He took a deep breath, then started quietly, "Ms. May was part of a SEAL, a while ago. They were all, um, they all died around the same time." He looked up at the two, "do you know anything about that?"

"No." Hotaru replied firmly.

The other two occupants of the room turned to the third. Hotaru did not fail to notice her fellow team member had stiffened ever so slightly.

"I don't know much about her past," Mikan replied vaguely.

"Alright," Misaki nodded to himself, "What was your, um, private conversation with Ms. May about?"

"We had an encounter," Mikan paused when she realized what she was about to say, but barrelled on, "before...this."

"You said you don't know much about her past."

Hotaru had figured Mikan to be just the type that was a horrible liar.

"Yeah, it was a brief encounter," Mikan shook her head, as dispelling a bad memory, "we weren't very fond of each other back then."

"And what was your relationship with her? Back then?"

"We were acquaintances."

"Why did you - uh," Misaki paused to carefully pick his words, "what made you mad?"

Mikan looked at a point past Misaki's ear, then turned to look Misaki fully in the eye, "She accused me of pulling a prank on her because of our," she paused to find the words, "disagreeable relationship. I denied it. She had threatened me, and as you have seen before the tape was hopefully destroyed, uh, she had gone mad with the notion, you know, over the years, and I had protected myself."

Hotaru was wrong. Mikan was a very proficient lyer. She would've believed her herself, if it weren't for the fact that she knew she had lost her memory. Hotaru had to say she was impressed...if Mikan had actual proof (or perhaps lack of disproof) to defend her story.

"You moved to kill in less than a second, Mikan." Misaki stated, as if he himself doesn't believe what he was saying.

The woman addressed looked down, darkly, but looked up at Misaki as she replied, "She acted so fast, I had to rely on reflexes, and uh," Mikan took a deep breath, looking at a point past Misaki's ear, "Because of my rough childhood, my reflexes are rather...ferocious."

"Your childhood? Actually, I don't believe there's any background on you," Misaki turned to type in his computer, then lifted his hands, palms up, "or, it's beyond my security clearance."

Hotaru eyes narrowed, the mention of Mikan's file beyond a Senior Agent's security clearance piqued her interest. She thought there was more to The Woman, but looks like there's a lot more than just _more._

Mikan shrugged, unsure of what to say. "You know, rough childhood, off the grid, some."

"Right," Misaki nodded softly, "this is just procedure...Mikan, where were you on wednesday morning?" He looked down, checking the paper in front of him, "around 8 to 9 am?"

"In my apartment," Mikan looked at Hotaru, "She could give you an alibi."

Hotaru nodded simply once in affirmation.

"Okay," Misaki nodded slowly, writing something down. He looked up at them, giving them a small smile he dismissed them, "um, if I make a break in the case I'll let you guys know. Thank you."

When Mikan stood up, Hotaru remained in her seat. Mikan looked at her strangely, but Hotaru looked straight ahead at Misaki. "We have a few things to discuss."

Misaki stared at her, his face showing that he didn't know what she was talking about either. "Alright," he replied amiable. "Sure."

Mikan left wondering, but didn't wonder long for her mind focused back on her current case.

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"Ya'll need me," was Sumire's entrance unto the A Floor. "Just admit it."

Anna rolled her eyes, "Ugh, here comes drama queen."

"Alright, what can I help you with?" She walked up to Natsume purposefully, as if he had called her.

But when she stood in front of him for a whole half minute, he looked up from his computer, "Nothing." And looked back, typing furiously.

Sumire blinked at the rejection, looking at a grinning Koko beside her and a snickering Kitsuneme behind Natsume. "Why am I here?"

Natsume lifted a lazy hand, "Koko'll explain."

Before Koko could get in a single word, Sumire interrupted, "But I want you to explain!"

Natsume wrote something down, then twirled his pencil in his hand, looking up at her again, "track our vic's route." He spoke simply before dismissively returning to his work.

Sumire stared at him, then stoically turned away, "oh-kay." She stood for a second, gathering her surroundings, then seeing the open seat with a computer in front of Natsume, she happily took it.

Koko left smirkingly to join Kitsuneme in discussing _his_ cold case.

"So..." Sumire started, "How's it going?"

"What?" Natsume lifted an eyebrow at her.

_Your love life._ "The case...?" She replied awkwardly.

He blinked at her then looked back at his work, "Working on it."

Sumire nodded, _okay that was awkward. _

The elevator ding-ed again, and everyone greeted the newcomer in turn. Sumire scowled,_ they didn't even glance at me. _

The new threat to Sumire approached their desk casually, staring at her. Sumire stared back defiantly.

Mikan blinked at the woman glaring at her then looked at Natsume, "the coffee machine broke."

Natsume only looked up at her then stared pointedly at the one coffee cup in her hands.

"That's mine," Mikan frowned childishly at him.

"Who's been hard at work while someone goes off socializing with the higher ups?"

Mikan gasped incredulously, "first of all, I was not socializing," she ducked the cup out of the way as Natsume long, strong arm reached for it, "second of all, there's sugar and creamer in this; I don't think you'll like that. And third of all, I was not socializing, that was an interrogation."

"Yeah?" Natsume pulled back his hand, then pointed to a chair not far off to his right, "Chair."

"Oh," Mikan scoffed, "Thanks, what a gentleman; point the chair out but don't get it for the lady."

Natsume rolled his eyes at her sarcasm. Sumire watched the entire interaction wide-eyed.

When Mikan returned with the chair and sat next to Natsume, he set his pencil down and looked at her. Sumire watched wide-eyed; _he set his pencil down._

Natsume spoke first, "So?"

"So what?" Mikan smiled, apparently knowing what he was talking about, but staying aloof.

"The interview." Natsume pushed.

"What about it?"

Natsume scowled at her, then turned back to his computer, "fine, don't tell me."

Mikan sat, shuffling some paper around, then sighed, "Okay, okay, fine."

Triumphantly, he turned to her.

"Okay, Misaki was super nice," Mikan stated first.

Natsume rolled his eyes, "get to the point."

"I'm off the hook," She spoke delightly, fighting the urge to clap her hands.

"That's it? The half hour you were in there?"

"Well he asked about, you know, her past and all, past affiliations," Mikan looked away as she said this, "didn't lead anywhere..." she trailed off doubtfully.

"Except?" Natsume led on.

"He's just looking into her past," Mikan waved at him dismissively, "anyway, what've we got?"

"Um, me, for one," Sumire spoke up for the first time, rather snobbily.

"Oh," Mikan stared at her, "yeah, Sumire, I know, did you find something?"

"Oh now you notice me," she grumbled, "Again, it's Shouda. Yes, I traced the guy's path. The vehicle was following him since he got out of his apartment, but none of the cameras could make out the driver. I got the license plate. I looked it up." She looked at them pointedly, "which is your job, but oh wait, you guys were too busy flirting, hm."

"We weren't flirting," Mikan pouted, taking the sticky note with the registered driver and information on the car.

"Good."

Mikan looked at her oddly as she stood up to talk to Nonoko.

Natsume noticed she left the coffee cup. Mikan seemed to have noticed at the same time too, for she turned around to reach for it, but Natsume snatched it first.

She growled, "you won't like it."

He only took a large gulp, then at her gloomy expression, another one. He smirked at her, "lay off the sugar."

"Don't tell me what to do," She snatched the cup, stomping away.

Sumire stood up abruptly, "Alright, I am done." She held her hands up in surrender, and catching Koko's eye, she emphasized. "Done."

Koko grinned, waving her over. When she was close enough, he muttered to her, "Told you you'd be disappointed."

"Whatever," she grumbled back.

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"Natsume," Yuu called, "I have something to show you," when Natsume walked in his office, he added, "from Sumire's findings." Yuu uncapped his whiteboard marker, indicating to an empty space on his window-wall next to the picture of the victim, and a sticky note with information. "You should be nicer to her." He commented off-handedly. He turned on his projector for a plain map of part of the city on the empty space.

"So our man here came out of his apartment," Yuu drew a dot, then traced the man's path with a blue marker, "he drove this far and parked here," he wrote a time on top of the second dot. Then he capped his marker and picked up a red one, "he started walking here," he traced the path, adding, "and this is where he got hit, crossing the road to his destination - half an hour early."

"So he wants to case out the place first," Natsume theorized.

"Mhmm," Yuu nodded, picking up a green marker, "this is the tail," he drew a path with the marker, always at least an intersection behind. "When he started walking, the car took a different path," he drew a path that diverged slightly from the red path and wrote a time above the destination.

"So, our killer had to make sure our vic was going the right way, then he got there first," Natsume inferred. "So our killer knew where the vic was going."

"Here's the thing," Yuu turned off the projector, so the blank screen became just neat, colorful lines, and picked up a few pieces of paper taped on his window-wall.

"The car was registered to a banker, who Mochu has gone and made sure has nothing to do with case, and has an alibi at the time."

"So who was driving the car?"

Yuu held up a finger, taping the paper back on his wall, and picked up another piece of paper, "the girlfriend is actually off work that day, had requested a sick leave, and if you blew up the security footage," Yuu turned to grab his ipad, zooming in on a still, "it's a female figure."

"What does she have to do with our vic?"

Yuu hesitated, then pointed out of his office, "Mikan says she'll take that."

Natsume scoffed. Yuu continued, "I think she can find it, uh, better."

"I think she just wants something to do."

Yuu considered it, then smiled, "that, too."

"Alright," Natsume spoke as he left the office, "The cold case probably needs as many brains as we can spare." He dismissed.

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"Nonoko," Mikan whined on a stool next to her friend, "Natsume is still a jerk."

"Yeah," Nonoko agreed, not looking up at Mikan but studying something on the computer screen, "but in a different way, and only to you."

Mikan pouted unsure of what that meant, then tried to look over Nonoko's shoulder, "Anything?"

"So I talked to the doctor and he handed over the medical files." Nonoko started, still examining a chart, looking at it sideways, then frowning. "He was slated for death row." She finally turned to her, frowning.

Mikan jaw dropped, "What?! Is it cancer?!"

"Is what cancer?" A new voice entered the conversation as Natsume walked in.

"Please, welcome yourself in, not like I don't want to see your face after you drank pretty much half of my last cup of coffee." Mikan scowled at the newcomer.

"You put enough sugar to last you a lifetime anyway," He retorted, before turning back to Nonoko.

Nonoko smiled at them both before explaining, "It's not cancer, it's very subtle poison that was slowly eating him up. But the car accident was probably an easier way to kill him."

Natsume nodded, adding it all up in his head, "So he knew something, he discovered poison in his system, and he tried to tell the cops that something before he dies. But whoever tried to kill him, figured out the sneaky way is too slow, panicked, and tried to kill him before he went into that meeting."

"I could've figured that out too," Mikan grumbled childishly.

Natsume focused his full attention to her, leaning towards her, he retorted, "what you should be figuring out is how the girlfriend is connected to this and her motive."

Mikan stood to her full height, but still had to look up at him, "I did, thank you very much, with the last drop of coffee, thank you very much." She tried to make a dramatic exit, but Natsume was closer to the door.

He opened the door for her, "You're welcome."

She only scowled at him in annoyance and stomped out. He marched out after her.

Nonoko grinned at their interaction.

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"They're called the A_ Team_," Jinno emphasized, "Of course they'd stick up for each other."

Misaki sighed softly, "Her apartment is registered to Ms. Imai, and the security cameras check out. She has an alibi."

Jinno swallowed the information disgustedly, grumbling, "I'm sure she can be good enough to avoid the cameras."

Misaki's lips thinned into a line, he paused before blurting, "If you don't mind me asking, what_ is _your problem with Mikan?"

Jinno's lightning sharp blue eyes hardened. At first, he refused to answer. But Misaki stared at him, refusing to move on either.

Jinno started, "everyone here worked hard. They went through the academy, or my training, or the military, or whatever. But she, Ms. Mikan Sakura, if that's her name, just appeared out of nowhere and went straight to the top."

"Narumi told us, she was from CIA." Misaki reasoned.

"Appeared out of nowhere," the fellow Senior Agent repeated stubbornly, "She was a CIA agent. Not even a rookie." When Misaki failed to argue, he continued, "everyone has to start somewhere. She just showed up, and Narumi vouched for her. _Narumi_."

Misaki understood his suspicions, but couldn't believe it himself. "Her file is beyond our security clearance." He paused for effect, "that's the Head of FBI vouching for her too. _I_ trust Mr. Yukihira."

Jinno didn't dare argue that. Leaning back, his body language foreshadowed the change in conversation. "One of the kitchen staff died last night."

"I heard." Misaki replied, "drunk driving, apparently."

"Remember the last time someone died from drunk driving?"

Misaki stared at Jinno awkwardly, "More than 30% of traffic deaths come from drunk driving..." (Fact from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration - don't drink and drive!)

Jinno rolled his eyes, "the 2001 case?"

"Oh!" Misaki recalled, "the cold case murder made to look like an accident. Well why didn't you say so?"

"do you really want me to answer that?"

"No." Misaki answered honestly. There was a pause a he pulled out a fille cabinet drawer and picked up a file. he opened it and scanned the pages. he went back to the first page, frowning.

"I've seen this guy before," he muttered.

Jinno sat up in interest, and without preamble he shuffled through Misaki's mess of a desk.

"Hey!" the Senior Agent protested.

Jinno glanced at him impatiently, "what are you gonna do? Throw a plant at me?"

Misaki sat back, "how does everyone- it was Narumi wasn't it?"

"yes." Jinno answered guiltlessly, then picked up a piece of paper in triumph, comparing it to the cold case file.

Misaki looked at the two pieces of paper in interest, "they were on the same SEALS team," the two senior agents looked at each other,"that's the team that were executed."

Jinno sat grimly, "Someone's tying up loose ends."

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"Oh my goodness, look at him."

Natsume sighed, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms behind his head for a stretch break. Sumire ogled him from across the room. Koko, rolling his eyes, placed his hand on top of her head, and turned her to look at him. "You said you were done?"

Sumire frowned at him, taking his hand and placing it away from her, "no harm in looking."

Natsume then checked his watch. He stood up, marching to the conference table, speaking loudly, authoritatively, "it's five o'clock."

As if by an invisible spell, everyone gathered their things and headed for the center table. As everyone settled in their seats, Sumire looked around for a seat of her own. But behind the last chair available, Hotaru stared her down. "There's no chair for you."

"I can pull up one." Sumire offered.

"No." Hotaru looked at her meaningfully.

"Well, geez, alright, my job is done, I'll leave." Sumire turned around with a flick of her hair, "you're welcome, gawd."

"Thanks, Perms!" Koko called after her.

Sumire only waved a hand behind her back, "whatever."

Once she's gone, Natsume started, nodding at the agents who worked on the cold case, "let's get started."

"So," Yuu cleared his throat, standing up to approached the whiteboard "uh, Mikan here," he looked pointedly at Natsume at this point, "found a connection between the girlfriend of the owner of the car and the cold case. The woman was their babysitter. Coincidentally, or not, she was also daycare worker where the triplets from the second cold case. What Koko and Kitsuneme had found was that our car crash victim was a close friend of our babysitter/girlfriend/suspect. He probably knew something, and couldn't live with the guilt anymore." As he talked, Yuu had drawn an elaborate tree of connection and theories and clues from their cases on the whiteboard.

"Nice drawing," Mikan complimented suddenly.

"Thanks," Yuu grinned, "I'm a visual person."

"Yeah, I can see that."

"Oh, haha," Yuu pointed at her, "I see what you did there."

Natsume stared at the two, clearing his throat impatiently, "continue?"

"Ri-right, uh," Yuu fumbled at Natsume's annoyed stare, "yeah." Yuu looked at his work on the whiteboard, and then his notes, "I-I'm done."

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So after their very insightful discussion, they decided to visit their suspect.

Natsume stood in the elevator of the apartment building boredly, he sighed.

Mikan turned to him, then spoke her mind, "Do you feel like we've been on this case for the longest time?"

"Yeah." Natsume replied, "What is the author doing...we're obviously smarter than that."

When they approached the apartment itself, he straightened his suit. "Look smart, we're the FBI."

"I know," Mikan rolled her eyes, "I wish we could've been something cooler, like students with superpowers."

"FBI! Open up!" Natsume called into the apartment while knocking, then resuming their conversation, "My superpower would be fire; it's so badass."

When nobody answered, Mikan picked the lock, smiling mischievously at her partner, "did you hear something? I think I heard something."

"Hn." Natsume grunted as they walked in the house with their guns raised.

"What would mine be?" Mikan asked, walking into the rooms.

"FBI!" Natsume hollered again, then answered, "something stupid like nullification."

"Clear." Mikan called, emerging from the living room, "Oh, please, I would be so much cooler than that."

"Clear." Natsume called from the bathroom. "Yeah? Like what?"

"Clear." Mikan called from the kitchen. "I don't know, like I could have whatever superpower I want, as long as I can get it from somebody else, you know?"

"So you're pretty much stealing," Natsume simplified, then gestured to the back, "I'll check the back."

When Natsume slowly opened the door to the backroom, the first thing he saw were paper everywhere. Then he realized it was some type of office. Then he realized there was someone in there, trying to shred as much as possible. So he warned the lady, which he recognized as their suspect, "FBI! Put your hands where I can see them!"

She did, then made a run for it.

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Hi this is the author. As you can see I've slacked a little bit because it took soooooo long to write this chapter. So long. Like whose stupid idea was it to have three cases at once? Oh wait...

It is just by pure choice and laziness that the previous scene was not a blooper.

Well anyway, after this, I'd say it's a pretty good, deep, interesting chapter.

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"She's on the run!" Natsume hollered into the earpiece, running out of the balcony, and down the fire escape after her. "Heading north, one block," he directed as he ran after the woman. He was led into a zig zag of alleyways and intersections, but he never failed to keep track and voice her location.

Suddenly the woman he was chasing turned into a narrow alleyway within an alleyway, and something told Natsume to stop. He approached cautiously. Just as he turned the corner, a gun raised in his peripheral view.

Thankfully, Natsume had good enough reflexes to grab hold of the gun, and in catching sight of its owner, nearly ripped it from her hand in rage.

The owner of the gun was a woman. A hooded woman with red plump lips, and big sky blue eyes.

Natsume noticed that the woman he was chasing was laying unconscious on the ground.

She smiled saucily at him, stroking his hand that held her gun provokingly. Adversely, it made Natsume let go and step back as if she was on fire.

His eyes darkened as he hissed, "_Luna Koizumi_."

She purred in response, "I love the way you say my name, Natty-dear."

The name grated on his nerves, and he fought the urge to attack her. "I don't." He replied bluntly.

"Pity," Luna pouted. Then she moved on, "You are fond of our dear Mikan, no?"

Natsume didn't answer her question, "What do you want?"

She ignored him, "I would think so," Luna continued, "the way your team was so protective of her when someone tried to investigate her."

Natsume remained impassive, "You framed her."

"Oh please," Luna scoffed at him, "She can do nothing for us in jail."

Later on, Natsume would've slapped himself for not picking up on the fact that whoever "they" is wanted Mikan to do something for them.

Surprise nearly registered on his face, but he had learned to school his features long ago, "us?"

Luna gasped dramatically, "oops." She then smiled dangerously. To Natsume, she looked like she was baring her fangs.

She turned, as if about to take off, "Oh yeah," she turned to Natsume again.

He rolled his eyes, "number four?"

"Hm," she smiled sardonically, "there's something about intelligence that makes a hot guy even hotter."

He only stared at her, "so tell me who 'us' is."

She smiled wider, "No, but tell Mikan this -"

"No need," A new voice entered the conversation as Mikan walked towards them from the other end of alleyway, "I'm right here."

"Hm," Luna looked at her with a lifted chin, "Don't worry, your boyfriend here is still virgin."

Mikan blushed, sputtering, "He-he's not -I - what?!"

"Nevermind," Luna rolled her eyes, she checked her watch, "Look, I'd love to stay and chat but, well, I have more loose ends to tie up."

Mikan narrowed her eyes, "You killed her didn't you?"

Luna blinked at her innocently, "killed who?"

"You know who," Natsume growled.

At the same time Mikan stated, "Savannah May."

Luna looked between the two, then laughed shrilly. When she settled down, she said, "You know what the funny thing is? Your boss' friends, senior agents or whatever, are so close, but you can't prove shit."

The two federal agents steamed.

"Anyway," Luna continued nonchalantly, "the fourth message is sweet dreams." She winked.

"What the hell?" Natsume frowned.

She shrugged, "I'm just the messenger." Then she disappeared into the shadows.

Natsume looked at the body on the ground grimly. Speaking to his earpiece, he stated, "send EMS over here."

Natsume watched as Mikan bent over the body, inspecting the crime scene. After a second, she sat back and sighed, "no trace. Of course. She could've bumped into a wall for all we know."

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Three Senior Agents conferencing together meant a big case. And it _was_ a pretty hard case...that they'll never be able to truly close.

"So the Alices are back." Misaki tried to state, but it came out as a question.

"We don't know that for sure." Narumi tried to reason.

"They went after the SEALS," Jinno was firm, "they're tying up loose ends."

"So what do we do?" Misaki asked, referring to the Alices.

"Mr. Yukihira wants to sit it out." Narumi answered, his usual amiable smile wiped off his face.

Jinno was obviously not happy with the conclusion, but did not differ.

Taking advantage of the end of conversation, Misaki spoke up, "So it wasn't Mikan Sakura after all," he looked pointedly at Jinno.

But Jinno was a stubborn man. "I'm not changing my opinion of her as, for a lack of better words, sketchy."

"She's a good agent," Narumi commented casually.

"Oh yes," Jinno replied sarcastically, "I wonder where she learned her skills."

Jinno watched sharply as Narumi only slightly tensed.

"Rough childhood." Misaki muttered, trying to placate the sudden rise in tension in the room.

"Yes, must've been pretty rough," Jinno replied dubiously. But he stood up, leaving the topic alone. He left, but not before taking a jab, "Good luck with your plants, Misaki."

Upon hearing that, the said agent turned on the other occupant of the room with a glare and dark hiss, "_Narumi._"

Narumi took the split second pause to literally flee.

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Mikan found him on the roof. She didn't know what made her look up there but she was glad she did, because there was Natsume, sitting in a corner. Mikan almost rolled her eyes, _how antisocial._

He spoke the moment she sat down next to him, "I should've known it was her."

She knew he was talking about Luna. "It's not your fault," Mikan shrugged, "You thought the whole organization was destroyed...or whatever you like to call it."

Natsume shook his head, shrugging the doubt away.

Natsume's mind was far from the present, fact that he knew Mikan was The Woman got him thinking about the old Mikan and the new Mikan. She changed - a lot. Well, that might've been mostly due to her memory.

She was still kind of the same - it's a wonder he didn't see it before. Maybe he had suspected it, he just wouldn't admit it.

"The Woman." Mikan spoke up finally. "what was she like?"

Natsume paused.

"C'mon," Mikan settled into her seat, "tell me."

Natsume also relaxed a little. "She was kind of charming, in a weird way. She has this ephemeral feel about her - but that might be because I always seem to meet her at a fancy party. At first, we were both pretending. But the more we met - the chance moments we would bump into each other - I got to decipher her. Now that I think about it, it was the mystery that drew me." He paused, as if to think about what he just said, then confirmed it, "Yeah, she was like a mystery I had to solve. She was fiery but at times, she can be cold-hearted. She thought she was an empty shell, void of emotion, she thought she was pretending - she liked to pretend. She was wrong. It was herself she was pretending to be. I guess I helped her find herself."

Mikan watched as Natsume's entire attitude change when he spoke about her. She at first stated, but then became unsure of herself, "You love her...?"

"I..." Like his partner, Natsume was sure, but after second thought, was uncertain. "don't know. I did, but," he shrugged, "the past is the past."

"Looks like the past is catching up to you." She spoke softly.

He turned to her, and their eyes locked for a long moment. "Yeah." He said, not looking away.

"I think it's time someone helped you find yourself." Mikan spoke softly.

Natsume only grunted as he tried to close their distance. Keyword; tried. At the last moment, Mikan turned away, blinking heavily. She stood up, and paused only to say, "I'm sorry I'm not her."

Natsume sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I know," he muttered to himself.

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Mikan watched it again, and again. Her overpowering that marine, her movements. She tried to remember the scene, but it was a whirlwind of action in her mind.

Suddenly a voice spoke from behind her, startling her into slamming the laptop lid shut. "How was there so many copies of that?"

"H-H-Hotaru! Hey!" Mikan cross her legs, then crossed her arms, "I was just, looking, I'll - I'll destroy it." She lifted the lid, "right now, yup."

Hotaru stared at her, then nodded, "Okay." She left.

Mikan watched as she left, breathing a sigh. Slowly, she opened the laptop lid, and almost reluctantly, destroyed the digital file. She sighed again, her mind in a turmoil.

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"She's having the nightmares." Luna reported boredly, checking her nails.

The person addressed paced back and forth impatiently, "only nightmares? Why is she taking so long?"

"You waited three years, you can wait a few more months," Luna replied, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

The figure turned on her abruptly, in frustration, he yelled, "No, I cannot!" He calmed down a bit at Luna's bewildered look, "Look, I've already sent for," he paused, looking around scandalously, using a codename, "The Princess. Her mission is time sensitive. I want everything in place when she finishes."

Luna lifted her hands in surrender, "Okay, fine. You want me to give her a little push?"

He gave her a look.

"Right, I've been giving her little pushes," Luna corrected herself, "a _big_ push, there."

"Yes," the man smiled slowly, "good."

Luna stood, unsure if he's going to say more.

But he only looked at her obviously, "Go!"

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Mikan likes to sing in the shower. That was what Hotaru and Natsume had figured out in the month they'd been living together.

Natsume and Hotaru went to their rooms respectively, knowing that in a few minutes, silly, off-pitch singing would radiate from the bathroom.

Natsume had been working on a write-up of their case for Narumi. Hotaru was fixing one of her technology defects.

Natsume and Hotaru glanced at their watches respectively.

It had been an hour, they quietly noted. But what really bothered them was the sounds of the apartment.

Complete, absolute silence.

The two other occupants of the apartment tried to push their worry to the back of their heads.

Natsume gritted his teeth halfway through his report. He was frustrated because he couldn't focus. He couldn't continue. He'd never admit it to himself, but he knew it was because it was too quiet. Natsume lived on quiet - but just as he was getting used to either music coming from Mikan's room or her dreadful singing or her talking or _something _that showed there was life in the apartment...

Natsume checked his watch again. Mikan had been in there for an hour and a half. And it is too quiet.

He tore his door open just as Hotaru elegantly walked out of her room. They both glanced at the bathroom door.

Natsume muttered an excuse, "I need to shower."

Hotaru rose her eyebrow in disbelief, but only said, "fine."

They knew that the other knew that they secretly knew they were just worried. Mikan was just that kind of person that could be so easily loved, worried about, cared about, that was just Mikan.

Natsume went back into his room as Hotaru stopped in front of the bathroom door.

She softly called, "Mikan? It's been an hour and a half." When there was no response, she continued, "are you in there?" The silence made her nervous. "I'm coming in."

Cautiously, she opened the door, feeling a strong woosh of hot air as she slipped in. Hotaru approached the bath tub warily, and once she caught sight of Mikan, the first thing that slipped out of her mouth was, "you're fully dressed."

Mikan was indeed fully dressed. She sat in the bathtub, curled up in the fetal position. She rested her forearms on her knees and her face on her arms. She was soaked to the bone. She looked up at Hotaru slowly, revealing tired eyes. "Hotaru."

Hotaru stopped next to the bathtub, looking down at her, "You should get out, dry yourself off, you're going to get sick."

"But it's hot water." Mikan replied.

Hotaru reached over to turn off the shower. "Now there's none," She retorted. "Dry off." Hotaru grabbed two towels from a shelf above the toilet, setting it on the toilet seat. "Wait here, I'll get you some clothes."

When she came back, Mikan was standing next to the toilet seat, a towel wrapped around her body, and a towel wrapped around her hair. Hotaru handed her clothes she took from Mikan's room, instructing, "come to my room when you're done."

Hotaru left quietly, marching to her room, but not before passing by Natsume's. His door was open, and she caught his look as she passed. She nodded once, indicating that their roommate was okay, before moving on. She grabbed a bottle of lotion as she waited, throwing it on the bed.

When Mikan walked in, she headed straight for the bed. Sitting cross-legged in the center, she picked up the bottle of lotion, thanking her host with a smile.

Hotaru sat on the end of the bed, leaning against her pillows and the headboard.

Mikan didn't seem to want to talk, for she was putting on the lotion in silence. The stillness passed by slowly.

"Something's bothering you."

"It's just - I'm tired, I mean, it's been pretty stressful, it just kind of caught up with me, the cases and, um..." Mikan trailed off.

Hotaru let her trail off, knowing all that were just excuses. She looked off at a point in the distant wall, debating with herself, though she didn't show it.

Finally, the Ice Queen started, "I was six when it all started."

Mikan snapped to her curiously.

"My parents died." Hotaru inhaled slowly, then let it all out in a quick huff of breath. "They were murdered."

Though she didn't explain, Mikan realized that that was why Hotaru got into the criminal investigation field. She remained quiet as Hotaru continued.

"I had a brother. He was ten at the time. We were both taken in by social workers; up for adoption. A rich family wanted my brother, because at ten, he already had an intelligence level above kids in middle school, even high school. But they didn't want me."

"They had to take me in, however, because the social worker didn't want to separate us. But I was always forgotten, never good enough, never fawned over like they did my brother. I was smart too, but they didn't - they refused to see it. I was an annoyance to my own brother."

"I was eleven when I ran away. I didn't want to leave my brother, but he was better off without me."

"Back then, I was smart - I thought I was smart ...I made decisions too quickly." Hotaru never failed to avoid eye contact as she told her story. "I was in the streets for a while. I learned a few things. Skills."

"Like I bluffed about." Mikan muttered to herself.

"I got in some trouble. Like I said, I was smart, and I had a knack with anything technology. I made money by selling tweaked...stuff. Sometimes to the bad guys." Hotaru paused in painful recollection. "I got in trouble once. I was demanding, and my client didn't like it. I was in the hospital...and they came for me. First social services, but I avoided them," a small smug smile appeared on her face for a split second, "I switched rooms with a patient. But I couldn't fool the CIA."

She paused, lost in memory. Then she told Mikan...

I thought they were social services again, and I used my skills from the streets. I woke up when they were arguing about handcuffing me to the bed.

"_She's, what, 16?"_

"_She's still a danger."_

"_Narumi, he's right, it's standard procedure."_

"_To handcuff a teenage girl to her hospital bed while she's asleep? That's not procedure, that's being a coward."_

"_Hey...I think she's awa-"_

_I knew I was busted so I tried to jump up and run, but they caught me. I punched Narumi - I didn't know their names back then - in the nose, kicked Misaki's balls pretty hard, but Jinno got me with a taser._

_The last thing I heard was, "I told you to handcuff her."_

_When I woke up, I was handcuffed. Narumi tried to be nice and talked to me, but I just spat in his face. Jinno tried to scare me, but I exercised my fifth amendment. Which, by the way, is useful in not telling them anything but getting them to tell you everything._

_They were trying to catch a gang, which actually led to trying to catch a notorious arms dealer, and a lot of the items led to me. And they thought I was the secret head behind the arms dealing or some highly imaginative theory._

_They brought in Subaru - my brother. Apparently, he was an exceptionally intelligent doctor by that time, and was recently hired by FBI._

_I definitely did not want to talk to him. He didn't seem like he wanted to talk to me either._

"_What did you do now?" He crossed his arms snootily, as if he knew me._

"_Since when did you care?" _

_His lips thinned into a tight line._

"_What's that? You don't want the people behind the mirror to know our real relationship?" I mocked him, "Oh, I got a suspect to open up. Give me a promotion."_

"_All they wanted was for you to talk anyway," he growled spitefully, realizing too late his indirect admission. So he did just want the money, I thought bitterly._

_But no one came in to interrupt their conversation. Maybe they were intrigued._

"_So they wanted me to talk." It like a game of chess in my brain. I thought out all the moves. "Fine. I want a deal, and that includes us not seeing each other ever again."_

_There was a pause, and Subaru looked behind him at the mirror uncertainly. _

_The door suddenly opened, and Jinno walked in, pulling up a chair and sitting down next to Subaru._

_Jinno leaned near Subaru, but it was useless, because I could read lips. He whispered, "You can keep the lead, I'm just here to make it official."_

_Subaru nodded, quite smugly, might I add._

_I sat back, crossing my arms, "I made it. That's all." _

"_You made it?" He knitted his eyebrows incredulously, dubiously, "You made what?"_

"_You thought just because your 'parents' doted so much on you that you were the only genius in the family?"_

_Subaru gritted his teeth at the jab at his parents. Of course he did. "This is for revenge isn't it?"_

_I scoffed, "Not everything's about you."_

_Jinno leaned forward, "What did you make?"_

_I told them. I made the weapons, the technology they used, all of it. What they did with it, I didn't care. Our interaction was merely an exchange. _

_I could lead them to who I sold it to, which would be the head arms dealer because I dealt with no less. But I want a deal._

_Narumi came in, calling Subaru out, because our sibling rivalry is slowing us down a little bit, and replaced him. I was tired of seeing his face anyway._

"They cut the deal. They were impressed with the technology. They diidn't fully believe me until they let me in a room with some scrap metal and I made a watch that could also be used as a knife. They recruited me into the CIA."

"They took me for my talent, but that was it. Then I was assigned this case, with another precocious rookie agent. It was your case." (precocious actually means advanced, or way ahead/intelligent, not arrogant like I had inferred from reading ffns. I mean, it could be arrogant if used the right way...sorry, anyway.).

"Natsume." Mikan inferred.

Hotaru nodded in confirmation, "They had two of their best rookies and a senior agent on the case because it was pretty dangerous and they were betting on us. If we fail, it wouldn't be a major loss. If we succeed, well, we succeeded." Hotaru looked off in the distance in an almost bittersweet fashion.

At this point, Mikan realized that all Hotaru was ever seen as was an item, a tool, or an intelligence...never really as a real human being.

"Apparently Narumi had literally betted on us. He said if we succeed, we would be the first installment of a project he liked to call The A Team."

Mikan blinked slowly, swallowing all this. "Wow," she breathed. She knew that the fact that Hotaru had told her all this was a big step.

She sighed, figuring it was her time. "I'm scary, Hotaru."

Hotaru sat back, looking at her dubiously, sarcastically responded, "very scary."

Mikan laughed a little, then settled down, "I mean, I don't know. I have flashbacks. It's coming back to me, but it's scary. It's - I have nightmares too. I took a nap this afternoon and it was horrible. It was from before, and I was like, I was some kind of monster - I just - I killed and - I just killed!"

"There has to be some eating, sleeping, relieving yourself in between," Hotaru replied blankly, "or else you would've have been well enough to 'kill' as you say."

Mikan started out giggling at her practicality, then grew to a full blown laughter.

Natsume smiled to himself as he heard voices talk well into the night. He wouldn't admit it, but he preferred having that noise, that sign of life, in his apartment - or wherever he lives.

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HA. See, if I said it was a good chapter, I was making your mind see it as a good chapter. That's psychology, guys.

...or maybe your mind was prepared for a really good chapter and your expectations were too high, therefore the chapter didn't actually meet it. In that case, I might've just done some reverse psychology...?

I actually don't take psychology as a class or in any shape or form so um, don't judge.

_**You remember how I said I'd write a story on the first meeting/romance between Natsume and Mikan? Yeah I have way too much on me right now, so that story will unfortunately be scrapped. I'll try to incorporate it into this story._

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**Lights, cameras, and ACTION!**

Luna watched Natsume leave from the shadows. She sighed dreamily, "he's so hot," then she growled, "why do I always have to be the bad girl? I should've just been a stripper, or a prostitute," she continued to stare at Natsume's strong back, "and then I'd have all kinds of hot guys around me all the time."

"Luna," Mikan called from off stage. When Luna turned to her, she stated promptly, "you're a whore."

"Now that's some real talk, right thur'" Mochu nodded in approval.

"You're just jealous." Luna replied. She hmph-ed as she flipped her hair, shaking her butt as she walked off.

"I ain't jealous of nobody," Mochu spoke in a ghetto accent, making Mikan laugh, "I like me just fine."

"**CUT!"**

"...and then I got into stripping, thought I'd make some fast cash while I was out there by myself in the world..."

"Hotaru!" Mikan's jaw dropped, "WHAT?!"

Hotaru shrugged nonchalantly, "Just making sure you were listening."

"**CUT!"**


	7. 5

In explanation of a scene where Natsume talks to Mikan about The Woman:

Mikan's past is "The Woman" and both Natsume and Mikan know she _was_ The Woman. Since Mikan lost her memory, she considers herself a new person. Natsume realizes that.

And guys, this is technically a monthly update - since Luna visits them every month, so every chapter is a month apart from the last chapter. So sorry if I'm moving too fast!

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Mikan has night terrors. That was the first thing Natsume found out that morning. The second thing was that stroking her hair calmed her down and that he didn't really mind.

Here's the story.

It was around two in the morning and everyone had gone to sleep - except for Natsume, who was getting nowhere with his research. He didn't know why he bothered to stay up so late.

But then, it wasn't like he could go to sleep knowing he could've used that time for other more important things.

The last records of Aoi Hyuuga dated back to five years ago. And those records took some hacking, some pulling rank, and loads of time because he didn't exactly have authority to delve into confidential school files. Apparently, she went to private school for her middle school education. But after that, she's off the radar.

City Hall didn't help much either because it only had her birth certificate, her trust fund information, and her missing persons news article. Natsume doesn't know what city hall's doing in there with their files but it sure ain't updating them.

So that was Natsume's mood that morning; a little bit of frustration and a little bit more of what-am-I-doing-with-my-life.

He glanced at the clock, which just turned to 2:00:00 AM and sighed.

That's when he heard it. At first, he wasn't sure what it was. It sounded like...bed rocking. But not.

Then came screams of terror.

In a flash, Natsume was next door, in Mikan's room.

To say he wasn't prepared for what he witnessed that morning was an understatement.

Mikan was thrashing about in her bed, panting heavily, sweating just as heavily, and the expression of utmost terror on her face.

It almost made Natsume himself feel a bit of terror. Except he's Natsume Hyuuga, and Natsume Hyuuga doesn't get terrified.

He approached her cautiously. He knew from an experience long, _long_ ago that night terrors couldn't be calmed down. Long story short, young Natsume was in preschool. During nap time, one boy had night terrors, and the teachers couldn't do anything but wait for him to calm down.

That is exactly what Natsume was doing that morning. He was a little more productive than his preschool teachers though, for he had gone to grab a wet towel.

He glanced at the clock, 2:02:31 AM and then he glanced at Mikan's stricken face. He didn't like that expression on her, at all.

He grabbed a chair from her desk, and set it beside her bed. Good timing, too, for the moment he sat down, Mikan suddenly sat up, wide-eyed. Her eyes seeing but not really seeing. Natsume immediately enveloped her in his arms.

He glanced at the clock; 2:04:00 AM. Her night terrors were very punctual, Natsume thought, as he absently stroked her hair. Her breath on his neck slowed and her breathing became deeper.

Natsume gently set her down to lie on her bed, then grabbed the almost-forgotten wet towel to wipe her forehead.

He set down the wet towel, and breathed deeply. She seemed to have fully transitioned back to sleep, and he liked her expression better.

_She sleeps like an angel,_ he thought, then almost chuckled, but once she's awake, it's a whole different story.

He didn't realize he was caressing her face until her hand caught his...and almost twisted his arm.

He stopped her first, however, using his other hand to take hold of her wrist, and just as he caught sight of her knee coming up, he's decided physically, he couldn't calm her down. "Polka - Mikan - Hey, hey, it's me. Calm down."

She blinked, then opened her eyes a crack, "Nat..sume? What are you - ?" her foggy mind couldn't finish the sentence, and Natsume's soothing voice didn't help, either.

"Just go to sleep, Polka."

When her grip loosened, Natsume breathed a sigh of relief.

_Nevermind, she definitely does not sleep like an angel, _Natsume corrected himself, as he put the chair back and went back to his own room.

Natsume Hyuuga wasn't interested in angels anyway.

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**The A Team**

_Aspirator_

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"My pencil is broken."

"Then fix it."

"_You_ fix it."

"It's your pencil."

"Actually..."

Natsume looked up at Mikan when she trailed off guiltily. He quickly inferred that she had taken his pencil. "My first rule was not to touch anything."

Mikan exclaimed, "I lost my pencil!" as if it was a reasonable excuse for stealing his.

"Then get another one."

"I did!" Mikan gestured to his side of the desk where she had gotten it from, "And now it's broken!"

Natsume sighed, snatching the pencil from her side of the desk. Efficiently, he dissembled it, tweaked it, then reassembled it.

With triumphant finality, Natsume placed the fixed mechanical pencil on her desk. As if nothing had just transpired, he returned to his work.

Mikan picked up the mechanical pencil wonderingly. "You fixed it."

"Hn." Natsume grunted, focusing on his work.

When Koko passed by, Mikan raised her pencil at him, "Natsume fixed my pencil."

"Really?" Koko paused, then turned to Natsume with wide eyes and raised eyebrows, "Natsume fixed your pencil?! By himself? For you?"

Natsume looked up, staring at them in annoyance, "It's just a pencil."

Koko's grinned from his indirect admittance. "This is incredible. This is breakthrough," He shook his head, "Congratulations, Mikan." He patted her back.

"He's being sarcastic." Natsume told a confused Mikan.

"No I'm not!" Koko called as he walked away.

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Nonoko and Anna were chatting excitedly about one thing or another when suddenly, the mini elevator that brought case evidence up to their floor alerted them in arrival.

They glanced at each other with puzzled faces. At the same time, they said, "were you expecting...?" And paused, the both smilingly continued, "I guess not."

They laughed at their synchrony, but not for long, for they headed to the mini carrier in curiously.

They opened it to find an evidence bag with bullets and shells they couldn't quite identify at a glance.

While Nonoko carefully transported the bag to their lab table, Anna strode to the door. Opening it slightly, she peeked her head out, "Hey, Natsume?"

The aforementioned agent lifted his head up with a grunt, indicating that he's listening.

"Did we get a case...or something...?" Anna asked shyly.

Natsume paused with furrowed eyebrows, Mikan also turned to look curiously at them. He checked his phone, "No."

"We just got some evidence..." Anna waved behind her, and Nonoko in turn, lifted up the evidence bag.

Natsume's forehead frowned, knowing that their carrier is specifically designed so things couldn't actually be carried up to them by mistake.

Not a minute later, Yuu bounded quickly out of his office, looking at his phone, and carrying his laptop, "Hey, uh, I think everyone will want to, ahem, come to the conference table?" He smiled sheepishly around the floor, gesturing for them to join him at the table.

He turned on the projector, connected his laptop, then got on Skype.

"Yuu. ?" Koko laughed at his teammate's username.

Yuu blushed heavily, stuttering in feeble attempt to cover up his embarrassing username.

Not long after the team gathered around, Narumi called Yuu's skype. It induced quite a number of eyebrow raising, and odd looks at Yuu for having Narumi on Skype in the first place.

"He added me first," Yuu reasoned feebly before answering the call.

Narumi's large, unattractive face came into view. He then adjusted the camera at a more attractive angle, then smiled widely.

As the camera was being adjusted, the team caught a glimpse of velvet curtains and a cozy fireplace.

"That is not his office." Kitsuneme commented wide-eyed.

"You are indeed correct, Kitsuneme!" Narumi replied brightly, "I'm at...ehh..." he shrugged, "classified information. Anyway, I think I sent the evidence up to you but didn't have a chance to brief you guys 'til now. I hope you haven't molded it into shoes or anything." He grinned at his own joke, while the A Team stared back blankly.

He coughed, "Anyway, this isn't your normal case. The case the evidence is from is actually solved. We found the killer, but he had gotten his weapon from untraceable sources, and effectively disposed of the weapon. So all we've really got are the bullets from the victim's body and the shells from the crime scene. If you've looked at it already, my intelligent lady scientists, you'll notice that it's not any type of gun you've seen before."

Nonoko and Anna grimaced slightly as his nickname but nodded at his statement.

Narumi turned grim, "we need to find that weapon, trace it all the way back to its manufacturers. 'Cause what's more dangerous than gun trafficking?" When there was no answer, he answered himself, "gun manufacturing under the radar."

"It makes them invisible." Koko thought aloud.

Narumi nodded, "Correct! And why is that, Mochu?" He pointed to Mochu like a teacher.

Mochu grumbled, "We can't catch it, or arrest it, or even detect it because," he lifted his hands for air quotes, " it 'doesn't exist.'"

"Exactly!" Narumi grinned at them, then as if distracted by an activity away from the screen, he moved off camera for a quick moment, before coming back brightly, but with a hint of nervousness.

"So this incredibly important assignment is for only the best, of course." He concluded quickly, excusing himself. "Thank you all and good luck!"

When they wrapped up, Mikan commented to Hotaru, "hey, something interesting for once."

"Yes," Hotaru smirked almost evilly as they dispersed, "I like guns."

The Three Musketeers and Yuu gave her a wide-eyed look before scurrying off to their own business.

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"You realize you've been doing things for her, right?" Koko spoke softly, as if saying one wrong word could set off a bomb.

"I just fixed the damn pencil."

Koko gave him a look, as if saying, "that's not the only thing."

"I was in Staples. Staples is where you get staplers. She needed one, I got her one." Natsume shrugged in exasperation, annoyed at having to explain himself, "so what?"

"And the cup of coffee?"

"I was making one for myself, might as well get her one."

"Yeah, next thing you know, you're getting yourself a wedding ring, might as well get her one, right?" Koko winked, then left quickly to allow the words to sink in.

Natsume scowled, "That's a little dramatic," he mumbled. But not entirely impossible.

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Mikan breathed an incredibly dramatic sigh of relief when she arrived on the A floor.

"Where were you?" Natsume called as soon as she was within hearing distance.

Mikan didn't reply, only gave him a look and a gesture to herself.

Natsume did as gestured, glancing at her appearance, then grimacing when she neared him. "Was there mud in the play pen?"

"Ha ha." Mikan replied humorlessly as she passed him, "I was in the sewer, you know that place where-"

"-you come out looking pretty dirty." Natsume interrupted, much to Mikan's chagrin.

"No," Mikan scowled, "I was gonna say, where I get this," she held up a plastic bag containing a custom made gun. She smiled sweetly at him, "by the way, I look even prettier clean."

She turned, heading for the lab as Natsume stared after her. He didn't fail to put in a last word, "good, let's see that."

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"I had about fifty spots within a five mile radius where a gun would most likely be disposed," Yuu stated with slight awe, staring at a grinning Mikan, "I sent you, Koko, Mochu, Kitsuneme out there. The first place you picked, also not on my list, is where you found the gun."

The other three mentioned by Yuu rolled their eyes as Mikan grinned and flipped her hair jokingly.

"How did you do it?" Yuu asked straightforwardly.

"From the interview, I knew the man wanted to get rid of the gun as quickly as possible and he said that we'd never recognize it even if we had stumbled across it - it was just that well hidden. Also, I went over the case files and I retraced the man's steps. His escape route was the most interesting. Officials caught on quickly and he was under pursuit but they lost him in the subway due to, quote, too many people, end quote."

"But?" Koko interjected, slowly catching on.

"The officials aren't new at this. They had purposely chased him to a dead end."

"So what's there?"

Mikan paused, then raised her hands as if trying to phrase it correctly, "long story short, there was one almost impossible way out that led to the sewer system."

"Which is when you disappeared for a couple of hours." Mochu rolled his eyes. "and left us with our random search."

"Five," Natsume muttered.

Koko smirked silently, but aloud, he spoke, "Mikan, you need to stop flying solo. We're called the A _Team_ for a reason."

"You left us with our blind search," Mochu grumbled, "we could've helped you - four times the manpower, c'mon - and we could've found that gun in an hour or less!"

When Mikan pouted and all eyes eventually fell to Yuu, he spoke sheepishly, "Mochu's right."

"Duh, I'm always right," Mochu looked at Yuu incredulously, as if saying he was right this one time was ridiculously unnecessary.

Mikan smiled like a scolded child, ready to repent. "Okay. I'll stop flying solo." When she looked up, her eyes locked with Natsume's.

She looked away first, watching as the group dispersed.

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"Okay," Anna opened the glass door and yelled out to the rest of the floor, "Guys, we got something!"

Soon enough, the team converged in the lab, around a table where Nonoko and Anna stood with accomplished grins.

Anna started, "So." she grinned at them, clapping her hands together, in a overplayed official voice, she stated, "Keep you hands and body parts to yourselves and away from the table or the presentation while the presentation is in progress or I will personally slice incriminating body part. Got it?" She smiled sweetly.

Mochu whispered, wide-eyed, to Kitsuneme, "your girl's kind of scary sometimes."

"I love it." Kitsuneme replied immediately.

Mochu mouthed, "whipped," as he made the corresponding motion.

Nonoko reached over to dim the lights in the room, then pressed a button on a remote she's holding. A 3-D holographic presentation appeared on the table. It showed a larger sized version of the gun and the bullets and casings.

As Nonoko and Anna presented, they went over the materials and composition of both the bullets and the gun. Once a list of the general materials that made up the gun was made. They went over tiny microscopic evidence on the gun that could've only been transferred to the gun at the time it was being made.

Yuu took that list, literally, and threw it to the next table, where a 3D holographic computer appeared. He began to research on origins on such materials. Kitsuneme stood alongside him, researching on the materials that made up the gun to find a possible list of suppliers.

Mochu went back to his desk, partnering up with Koko, as both Kitsuneme and Yuu began to continually feed them information for them to find any evidence of transferring of such materials from various suppliers. Cross-referencing them all in attempt to find a single location.

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Mikan was posing as a prospective buyer, and Hotaru had made sure to gear her up with gadgets for them to get evidence to convict the criminals.

"Check, check. Twix, can you hear me? Over."

Static.

"TWIX!"

"Yeah, yeah," came Mikan's voice, "I hear you, Twizzler! No need to get yourself in a twist - ha ha, get it? Twizzler?"

Natsume's unamused voice came through, "...Aren't you a Smartie?"

"And you're a Sour Patch!" Mikan replied quickly.

"Stop it," Hotaru's voice cut through, "we got a mission to do...Airheads."

The more jovial of the A Team laughed so loud, the rest of the team could hear it through their earpieces.

In the car behind her team's inconspicuous van, Mikan pouted at the team having laughed at Hotaru's pun but not hers. Sulkily, she started her engine as the van in front of her started to pull away.

The two vehicles arrived at the location at separate times. The van parked across of the site first. They knew that people as paranoid as their suspects would suspect something if the van arrived after the buyer.

Mikan arrived at the site right on time. The rest of the team watched as both she and Mochu got out of the car, dressed casually but with a tinge of formality. They were both in comfortable enough clothes if ever they need to use their physical prowess.

Mikan brought along Mochu to better support her cover as a potential buyer of the manufactured guns. Mochu was meant to be a bodyguard, showing experience - that she knew to be cautious, as if she had dealt in the black market before - and money - like she had the resources to have a bodyguard.

Hotaru engineered both their covers, making sure that if their adversaries ever did a background check, they would check out.

Mochu grabbed a suitcase from the trunk, one among many others, of money. A buyer wouldn't be a buyer without money, right?

The building turned out to be a large warehouse. If they were willing to give their buyer a tour of the products, they were either too proud and would like to brag, or the previous meetings went well and they trust her.

The A Team hoped it was the latter.

The rest of the team watched both members' button cameras, taking them into the building. They noted the number of guards they passed as their undercover agents went.

Right after the first door, the two were patted down.

After walking down a few halls, and passing by some factory-like large rooms, the two were led to a large door.

The large bodyguard in front of the door nodded stiffly to the two. He opened the door, allowing Mikan in, but held out a forbidding palm at Mochu, bidding him to wait outside.

The team hovered around the multiple screens in their van, watching anxiously as Mikan walked in a spacious office-like room. Straight ahead was a heavy mahogany desk with a comfortable sofa chair set out in front, and an intimidating leather seat on the other side.

Before Mikan reached the guest chair, however, she noticed a pale, lanky man with square glasses holding a device and peering at her skeptically. He sat huddled near the adjacent wall to her left.

Just as she passed him, Mikan's button-camera suddenly sparked, causing Mikan to jump a little.

"A-ha!" The scholarly man to her left exclaimed. The man in the leather chair, the leader of the entire operation perhaps, stared at her in interest.

A bodyguard immediately approached, holding his hand out. Mikan, astonished to a degree, silently handed him her blazer.

As she settled in her chair, the man commented, "You're a little clever fox, aren't you? A button camera. Very sleek."

Mikan smiled slightly, "I prefer cautious."

"You don't trust me?"

"I could say the same for you," Mikan replied smoothly, glancing at the bodyguards and the apparent technician.

The man shrugged dismissively, "comes as part of the transaction, I suppose." He paused a moment before introducing himself, "I'm Gragoun. And you are?"

"Here to discuss a deal." Mikan replied smoothly.

"Straight to the point." He smiled slightly, "I like it. Go on."

Mikan presented her (fake) proposition. They chatted for a while.

Suddenly a man walked in, whispering in the leader's ear.

"Ah," the leader replied casually, looking at Mikan and dismissing his messenger. He stared at her for a moment, almost disappointed. "I have some business to take care of," he told her. He then gestured to his men, "Take her to the waiting room."

Two bodyguards flanked her two sides, escorting her out.

Unbeknowest to Mikan, Mochu had been kicked out just a moment before. Unbeknowest to everyone in the building, Mochu had pretended to stand by the car to wait for his "employer". But once he felt he was not being watched anymore, he detoured to join the rest of the team in the van.

Mikan was escorted to a remote part of the building. She was disconcerted to pass a hallway with a guard every ten feet. The room at the end of the hall was dirty, ominous, and not good hospitality at all.

As soon as she entered the room, the men grabbed her arms, holding her back as another man patted her down, examining carefully.

Mikan struggled, protesting, "what are you doing? I've already been checked."

But the men ignored her. After a while, the man examining her pulled out her earpiece. "Gotcha." He dropped the earpiece and crushed it with his foot. Then nodding at the other men, he ordered, "It's true. We need to get of her. Quickly!"

Mikan's eyes widened, then immediately freed herself, punching the man on her left in the face, and smacking the man on her right across the side of the head. She tackled the ground in attempt to get away from the torrent of bullets. She grabbed the gun of one of the men she had hit, and struck him on the side of the head again. She then tumbled around on the ground to avoid the bullets as she shot one of her own into the other man closest to her.

Suddenly a shadow from above jumped down. It was female figure. She landed on a gunmen, rendering him unconscious. Dodging bullets, she did a quick flip; taking the unconscious man's gun, kicking another man, and shooting at her attackers.

The two females seem to be working together as they moved quickly in an array of attacks to take down men twice their size and five times their number.

Mikan, however, had been trying to take a good look at her helper, but the number of attacks against her seemed endless.

When the dust settled, the mysterious helper turned around, facing Mikan.

Mikan stood up slowly, "Luna?"

Luna smiled scornfully, "It's so hard to get you alone nowadays."

Mikan stared at her for a long moment, "You knew we were gonna get this case and eventually be led here."

"Actually," Luna smiled sweetly, "I made sure." She winked.

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"Well, there goes our video feed." Yuu threw a hand up.

"There goes our mission." Koko restated with dramatic panic.

"It's a trap." Kitsuneme added.

The A Team, minus Mikan, plus Ruka, was gathered around Hotaru in the surveillance van. Apparently Ruka had been called in as backup.

"I can't hack the cameras because there are no cameras." Hotaru was explaining, "Getting heat signatures is the most I can do."

The whole team winced as feedback passed through their communicators.

When they recovered, Ruka asked worriedly, "Is that Mikan?"

Hotaru typed rapidly, trying to locate Mikan. Finally, she spoke gravely, "Her communicator has just been destroyed."

"It has to be a trap," Koko repeated.

"She's been compromised!" Kitsuneme continued Koko's statement.

Yuu was looking at Hotaru's device which took something like an x-ray of the building, making 3D blueprints, but also showing heat signature and topography. "Whoa -"

"What? What is it?" They turned to him anxiously.

"There's bombs, tripwires everywhere, this place is loaded with security."

Natsume placed his hands on his hips gravely, "Okay, we need to take this slow - once they get spooked, they're gonna -"

"-Blow the whole damn building to kingdom come." Mochu shook his head, "Lord help us all."

The whole team turned to him, and Kitsuneme spoke gravely, "Mikan's in there."

Natsume gritted his teeth. "I know."

Yuu looked up from the computer, "We need to call in a SWAT team."

Hotaru shook her head, "They make too much noise."

"But-" When Hotaru stared him down, Yuu quieted, "This warehouse is huge."

"Yuu's right, we need as many people as we can get." Natsume concurred, "Hotaru will stay here as our guides. Anna, Nonoko will head straight for the factory. Mochu and Yuu, Koko and Kitsuneme will check out the warehouse. Ruka and I will find Mikan and get out of there."

The team piled out of the van quietly with their gear. With Hotaru's expertise, they entered through a weak spot in the warehouse's security.

Hotaru had given them instructions beforehand, "Anna and Nonoko, it should be somewhere to your right. Koko and Kitsuneme stay with them for the first part - there will be a lot of guards. Then split and try to find anything, and office, files, anything at all. Ruka and Natsume, you should head straight, all the way to the back, she should be somewhere there. Mochu and Yuu, explore."

When they got in, they did as told. The team fanned out.

"Kit Kat, a lot of heat signature coming your way from the east, twenty steps away from the corner." Hotaru instructed

"Roger that, Twizzler," Koko nodded. He and Kitsuneme took the lead as Anna and Nonoko stayed right behind him.

"Jolly Ranchers, take the catwalk, but be careful, there's a few heat signatures on the floor below, and above."

"Put us in between, that's nice, Twizzler," Natsume answered.

"I hate that codename," Ruka commented to Natsume, "I'm not joyful, or a farmer."

Natsume silently agreed.

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"Has it been one month already?" Mikan asked casually.

Luna nodded sharply, then moved on, "How's your memory coming along?"

"It's not." Mikan answered honestly, keeping her distance.

"You don't remember anything?" Luna almost looked troubled, but that might've been the dim lighting.

"Still nightmares." Mikan shook her head slowly.

"Then I'll have to give you number five." Luna sighed, she approached slowly, "I'm not all bad, Mikan, I did kind of hope that I didn't have to do this."

Mikan watched her warily, "What's number five?"

Luna sneered. "thanks for catching them by the way, they were a little competition...that we were too lazy to take care of ourselves. We have bigger problems to deal with, you know?" When Mikan only glared at her, she continued with a sweet smile,"I knew you'd understand."

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"I don't know what they're cooking up in here, but I am hot," Kitsuneme complained as they pressed their backs along the walls opposite each other with their guns drawn and angled down.

"Yes, you are, hon'" Anna breathed in reply.

The other two teammates stifled their laughter, but no one had time to reply for two heavily armed men had just turned the corner into their corridor.

Koko and Kitsuneme took a men each as they quietly disabled their movements. Anna and Nonoko, in turn, produced a cloth of chloroform to help them pass out.

As the rest of the team moved stealthily around the large warehouse, they made sure to catch the men by surprise and take them down before they could trigger anything.

"Plan A," Ruka whispered as they looked around the corner at their biggest challenge yet. "We sneak through without them noticing."

For a long stretch, there was a hallway to the right, and a hallway to the left. There was one sentry every ten feet on both sides. The catwalk running in the middle, right in between, but slightly below so it's also in sight of the similarly planned floor below.

"Yeah how do you suppose we do that?" Natsume looked at him skeptically, "Can't walk above the catwalk, can't go below either. If the guards can see each other, they can see us."

"That's why there's Plan B." Ruka frowned, "We barrel through them."

"And the other side?" It felt just like old times, when they were partners and they bounced ideas off each other.

"I take one side, you take the other side." Ruka shrugged hopefully at Natsume.

He shook his head, "They're ten feet from each other, they could sound the alarm before you even get near the rest of them."

"My first instinct would be to kill the threat rather than sound an alarm and kill everybody." Ruka dissented.

They peeked around the corner again, but nearly got a whiplash when a guard started walking towards them.

They glanced at each other, and they knew they were both thinking the same thing.

They jumped down from the hallway leading to the catwalk to intercept the guard that just turned around the corner. Before their opponents could mutter a sound, they knocked them out and quickly dragged them into the shadows to change into their clothes.

The new guards emerged, tipping their hats to each other for a silent wish of good luck. Squaring their shoulders, they walked through the hallways stoically, as if they do it all the time.

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"Bombs." Nonoko breathed as she looked at their suspects' lab.

"Guns, bullets," Anna added to her list.

"This place is a factory!" Kitsuneme exclaimed. "That's why it's so damn hot."

Koko walked around slowly as he took a video of the whole place, "you getting this, right, Twizzler?"

"Affirmative." Hotaru replied gravely.

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Suddenly, there was excruciating scream of pain that sent shivers down everyone's spines.

"That's Mikan." Natsume muttered into his earpiece. Hastily, like a new surge of energy had passed through him, their pace quickened considerably. Instead of walking leisurely and nodding at "fellow" guards, they ran through. The guards who saw them looked at each other with puzzled expressions, but thankfully did not catch on to their pretenses.

When they started seeing doors, Natsume broke down the doors while Ruka watched his back, trying to reassure the guards near them that it was just orders.

Natsume and Ruka glanced at each other with a sigh of finality before breaking down the last door together. They scanned the array of unconscious bodies breathlessly.

Natsume spotted Mikan immediately. She was sprawled on the ground, struggling to stay awake.

"Mikan, Mikan," Natsume was by her side in flash, checking her bruises, "Look at me, look at me, c'mon." There was no blood gushing out, a few minor bruises, but nothing major. So why was Mikan twisting in pain?

A loud, blaring noise, supposedly an alarm, shook them out of their stupor.

"They're gonna detonate the bombs," Hotaru explained, "Everyone, get out of there!"

"Stay with me," Natsume muttered as he scooped her and carried her princess style. He barely registered Ruka in front of him, covering him as they raced out of the warehouse.

He tried to ignore her sweating, her painful gasps, the goosebumps on her arms, the color drained from her face, and just her tortured face overall.

He and Ruka sprinted out of the building just in time - the moment they left, the building shook in explosion. The two agents were thrown from the effects of the explosion. Natsume tightened his hold on Mikan as they landed fifty feet from their original position.

He got up quickly, checking to make sure Ruka was up too, and they sprinted to the van.

They hastily rushed in the van, where everyone else was waiting, and Ruka slammed the door just as Mochu took off.

Natsume laid Mikan gently on the floor of the van, "What did they do to you?"

She tried to communicate but she seemed to have maxed out all her willpower. In tremendous effort, she gestured to her elbow.

Hotaru took a look. Her eyes widened in horror as she took out a tiny needle from the back of her elbow, "This - it's called the funny bone, but really it's a central - once it's hit, it attacks all her nerves almost instantly." She helped Natsume put her on the table as Ruka informed them the EMS will be there soon.

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"It was torture." Hotaru spoke quietly, full of emotions.

They made sure that their conversation was private, talking in corner out of earshot but where they could see if anyone was paying attention to them. Also in a perfect position to watch Mikan as she struggled on the sofa.

She was holding her head, gritting her teeth as vivid memories flooded through her brain. She felt a tornado of emotions all at once. She couldn't say it was an unpleasant feeling, because well, she's feeling way too much to decide.

Natsume turned to Hotaru attentively, hearing the rare bout of emotion in her voice.

"What are you talking about?"

"Mikan. She told me her nightmares." Hotaru explained, "what she experienced. The worst of it was when..." Hotaru struggled to continue, "when we lost her, after our mission."

Natsume remembered it well. He could never forget how they put their informant in danger. How he lost her - but they said it wasn't his fault. It was all their faults.

That was the thing, it didn't matter whose fault it was. They lost her. They said, best case scenario is that since they took down the Alices, she might've just been lying low.

But when Narumi found her in the hospital and the doctors said she was barely alive when she came in...Despite the outward relief and happiness, they knew it was worst case scenario. When the whole thing went down, the Alices must have found out who their mole was.

When Natsume didn't reply, Hotaru continued, "It might've been some advanced form of brainwashing."

"Torture and brainwashing are two different things."

Hotaru leaned forward impatiently, "Only torture can reach this level of brainwashing."

Natsume remained silent, flames sizzling inside him. He hated feeling helpless as Mikan suffered on the sofa. "It could be a virus," he spoke after a pause, "remember the case when that woman caught the virus, got amnesia..."

"The virus made her amnesia permanent." Hotaru disputed. "Whatever it is, they probably knew how it worked, knew when the effect will completely wear off."

"You mean when she fully regains all her memories."

"Something is making them panic," Hotaru ignored him, "They're trying to make regain it fast. The drug in her system - it's a stimulant. They're speeding up the process. She's feeling a flood of memories come back to her." Trust Hotaru to make everything simple. If Natsume wanted to hear the actual science behind all this, he would've gone to Nonoko.

"Why do they want her to regain her memory?"

"That's what we have to figure out." Hotaru paused at this point, "This might be deeper than I thought," her eyes unfocused, as the gears within her brain turned at the speed of light, "if they brainwashed her...we don't know what she knows, or anything about the entire month she was held captive, or what they told her." Finally she looked up, her cold amethyst eyes hardening, "she could be dangerous, she could a tool for them."

Natsume understood her train of thoughts. But he refused to acknowledge it. "This is-" Natsume gestured out the closed door, "this is Mikan we're talking about. She has some type of hero-complex."

Though Hotaru didn't argue, they both knew she made a good point.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Natsume, "The numbers that Luna has been - the numbers of the months-"

Hotaru immediately lit up with a revelation, "the correlate to the steps of her recovery."

"What number are we counting up to?" Natsume asked, rhetorically.

Hotaru stared at her best friend on the couch, gritting her teeth, "Only Mikan can tell us."

"And the Alices." Natsume pointed out factually.

"I don't trust them." Hotaru replied frankly.

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It didn't take too long for Mikan to calm down from her tortured episode. The team had gone to her, begging to help her in anything. Except, of course, Natsume, who stayed behind and watched her from a distance. She had refused the help, and as soon as she had convinced her team members she was fine, she supposed she was tired and needed a cup of coffee.

"You don't even need that," came Natsume voice from Mikan's left, "You're already bouncing off walls."

It was strange, seeing Mikan act sort of normal after the drug has worn off. Natsume, in particular, was a little apprehensive.

Setting down the creamer, Mikan looked at him, subconsciously taking a mental image. Natsume was leaning with his back against the wall next to the table, his dark maroon shirt bringing out the intensity of his eyes, and no one has ever looked so good in plain jeans. His broad shoulders perfectly sculpted along with well-built strong arms, which folded into his chest. He looked at her with a playful edge - as if that word could describe his stoic manner - but at the moment, it seemed to fit perfectly.

"So I'm happy, doesn't mean I can't get a little caffeine."

There was a pause as Natsume watched Mikan. "So you..." Natsume let the rest of the sentence hang, unsure of how to ask her about her condition.

"I'm good," Mikan replied with a roll of her eyes, "Thanks for asking," she added sarcastically.

"You're welcome," Natsume replied, playing along, "most people never acknowledge such rare things."

"Yeah," Mikan decided she'd humor him too, turning to face him with a sarcastic smile, "takes a lot of effort and kindness from deep within to ask such a simple question."

Natsume winked, "You know me."

Mikan seemed taken back by his, focusing her full attention to him, "I'd never thought the great Natsume Hyuuga had been capable of...I don't even know what that was. A civilized conversation? Joking?"

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me." One side of Natsume's lips pulled up in a secretive smirk, giving him a mysterious edge.

Mikan smiled back, fully, but uncertainly. She cocked her head to the side, staring up at him in confused awe, "Really?" There was a long pause as the flames of his passionate deep red eyes danced and her expressive auburn ones shown with curiosity.

Suddenly, a change came over Mikan's face, as if she just realized a secret they shared. Her smile widened, "Are you trying to be charming? Because you'll have to try a little harder." She winked, before turning in elation and nearly bounced away.

Natsume blinked in surprise, his face visibly lightened in astoundment. He immediately lengthened his strides, catching up to Mikan's light steps. Once he got close enough, only a step behind her, he asked quietly, "You remember that?"

Mikan turned only slightly to glance mischievously at him, "Maybe."

Her partner took one long stride ahead of her and positioned himself in front, blocking her path. Mikan stopped, hmph-ed, and crossed her arms.

"You remember?" Natsume repeated.

"I remember," Mikan answered decently, "our first meeting. It was a masquerade ball. You were tall, dark and handsome." She grinned as she said the next part, "and you were flirting with me."

"You clean up well," Natsume spoke as an excuse.

Mikan nodded smugly, "So you do agree I'm prettier clean."

Natsume didn't respond, but leaned in smirkingly, "You just called me tall, dark, and handsome." As if that argument disproved her statement.

"Fine!" Mikan surrendered, finding the close proximity unnerving, "let's just agree we find each other attractive."

Natsume leaned back smugly, changing the subject, "I also knew you were part of the Alices."

"Not until later," She disputed, "You were so sneaky." Mikan wrinkled her nose cutely in slight annoyance, "I had a blank flashdrive, and you had the flashdrive I wanted. You switched it during our second dance, and I switched it during our third thinking that I had your flashdrive when really, I got mine back."

Mikan smiled fondly in memory, "Imagine Luna's reaction when I came back. She was all, 'next time, _I _seduce the sexy detective! I'd definitely come back with something.'" She snickered when she told the next part, "I said, 'what? A baby?' and the way she looked at me like, 'damn, how did you know?'"

"I thought she was creepy."

Mikan laughed melodiously, "yeah the second masquerade? and she was trying to hit on you," she could barely speak through her laughter, "and you were just like, 'um, do I know you?' And she was like, 'no, but you can get to' and you just looked at her like, 'that was a total turn off, goodbye.'"

"Then you threw strawberries at me." (This is in reference to chapter one(?).)

"It's how The Woman," she emphasized her codename with a roll of her eyes, "gets guys, alright?"

Natsume rolled his eyes. "So you remember?" He asked for the third time that day.

"Not all of it." Mikan frowned slightly, "I'm not even sure what my missions were about, I don't remember names. Just some faces. Sometimes, I can't even tell who's good and who's bad." She shrugged, looking up at him helplessly, "I have these memories where I hear things but I don't know who spoke them, or which face it came from, or what was actually happening."

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Coincidentally, Mikan had finally detached herself from the scrutiny of her teammates when her phone buzzed. She saw that it was from Narumi. She schooled her facial features to a blank when she read the message.

_Could you come to my office, please? Don't tell anyone._

Announcing loudly to the team with an excuse - because it was so like her to announce loudly and people would be suspicious if she didn't do so - she left quickly to head down to Narumi's office.

Mikan walked in the office, looking around wonderingly.

"Hello, sweetheart!" Narumi sing-songed, "miss me?"

"I just saw you this morning," Mikan replied laughingly, "but sure, I missed you."

"See? You always know what to say." Narumi replied, gesturing her to take the seat in front of him.

She did as gestured, sitting comfortably as if she was called to Narumi's office all the time.

Narumi grinned, "I have a mission for you."

Mikan cocked her head to the side, considering the privacy of the meeting. Cautiously, she replied, "I haven't heard the word mission since CIA."

"It's not exactly a mission. It's a case, and once you've solved it, it will turn into a mission." Narumi explained.

He slid over a black file folder - it seemed as if there weren't much in it. Then he nodded, as if giving her permission to open it. Curiously, she flipped the manila cover over.

On top of a pile was a large picture, the size of a piece of paper. The first seemed to be a tattoo of some sort on skin. The tattoo was the outline of a star, and inside was just the letter A.

Mikan gasped sharply. Then she seemed to have lost the ability to form coherent sentences.

Silently, Narumi's hand reached over to slowly spread the stack of pictures out in front of her one by one.

"Chicago," Narumi stated, when he spread out the second picture.

The second picture was an action shot of a black figure running. The figure was a female. Her hood had fallen off, showing a ponytail of brown hair. One couldn't tell how long the ponytail was for the figure was running so fast it was almost a blur.

"Boston,"

The third was another action shot of the same female figure using a small knife in her left hand and stab a man on her left, and at the same time kicking another man into the wall in front of her. There were two men already on the ground, presumably dead.

"She's using local gangs, seemingly as practice, or information." Narumi voice continued, the first time the original A team has heard him state a phrase so seriously. "She and some others are planning something big and we have to stop them while we still can."

"You have reason to be afraid of her," Mikan's voice came through, "but how do you know there's more of her and she's - their - planning something?"

Instead of answering her question directly, he only stated, "Miami," spreading out the fourth picture.

The fourth picture was of the mystery woman seemingly interrogating someone. She had a gun tucked under a man's chin, who was on his knees and he seemed to be yelling something in desperation, hands up in surrender. Behind her were three men, dress in all black just like her, and in the middle of fighting (defeating, rather) ten men that presumably belonged to the man on his knees.

"That," A finger tapped the man on his knees, "is the drug cartel lord, Fernandez Amero. I'd say she either needs something to be delivered, or information."

Mikan remained silent.

Narumi's hand swept over the fourth photo, placing it somewhere else, and revealing the fifth photo. "This was from man being interrogated is Gregory Hun, head honcho of another local gang."

This time, the man had one hand on the edge of the roof of a tall building, desperately hanging on. The woman was crouching, talking to the man, with her foot on his hand. Though the angle of the camera was from the bottom of the building, one still couldn't see her face. All it caught was a curve of soft pink lips. Beside her were again three men, each had a gun, seemingly to be patrolling the area, scouting out threats. Protecting her.

"She was smart - very careful in keeping her face at the right angle so that it was hidden either under her hood, or arm, or just unrecognizable." Narumi explained. "Merciless, too, because when she got her information - assuming, she did, because we caught her smile there - and dear Gregory seemed to think he was safe there, but she just kicked him, and let him fall 57 stories." There was a pause, then he continued, "there were more. Reliable sources have placed her in Los Angeles, Houston, D.C., San Antonio, even Phoenix."

"You want me to catch her?" Mikan's statement came out as a question.

"No, I want you to research," Narumi answered, "who she is, who they are, what her motive is, and what she wants. For now, our theory is that she's taking out competition. But we all know that's a stretch. After research, come to me with the information. Then we can talk about making this a mission."

There was a moment of silence. Then Mikan spoke, almost darkly, "you know who they are. The Alices."

Narumi's eyebrows rose at this, "You said you didn't remember."

"I don't - not completely." Mikan crossed her arms. "You chose me because of my memories - that are slowly returning thanks to Luna, actually." At that statement, Narumi sat back in surprise, but Mikan barreled on, "That tattoo had to be mine. You only got five pictures and they travelled all over the country. You obviously wouldn't have been able to get a close shot of their heel."

"Excellent," Narumi nodded like a teacher, smiling, "Actually, one of them was found dead - we snatched him up before they could clean up their mess. He's in the morgue, if you wanna see him. Here's the authorization papers," he slid over a slip, "We've been calling her Wonder Woman. But an evil version. Now, for your exit song!" Narumi grinned, pressing a key on his laptop. The Cupid shuffle came on.

Mikan gave him a sweet farewell smile, taking the file and the slip, slipping them in her purse as she stood up to leave.

"Oh, Mikan?" Narumi called, pausing the song. When Mikan turned around in question, Narumi turned serious, "This is just between you and me. Got it? No one should know about this. No one."

Mikan nodded with finality, "I got it."

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FINALLY, right? Sorry for such a late update! I just had a bit of a writer's block in the middle. Now, I have to go tackle the next chapter. (Insert grimace here because I have little inspiration on where to go from here.)

Again, I didn't look over this so tell me if there's any mistakes!


	8. 6

Don't be confused! Just go with the flow!

When I said monthly updates, I meant the story. In the story, it's every month.

My update time will vary depending on how busy I am in real life. You know the usual; school, projects, jobs, trying to get in college, etc. Sorry guys!

Just an FYI, I might not be updating a lot in the next few months. I will be traveling for spring break, AP exams are in may, midterms are coming up, etc.

THANKS FOR THE VOTES FOR GARCA '12 ALL OF YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH. IT WAS SO UNEXPECTED AND BRIGHTENED MY DAY.

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Mikan looked at the slip again, of the dead person from her secret case. She frowned for a quick moment, for there was a slight scribble on it indicating a date. She didn't remember it having any kind of personal note when Narumi handed it to her.

It was today's date. She supposed she has been putting it off for too long. The case itself had also been taking too long - one month, for goodness' sake.

She made up a plausible excuse to leave, walking into the elevator and then pressing the button for the basement. She stared at the slip again. From her little knowledge of the Alices from her memories, and a bit psychoanalysis from CIA training, she figured the Alices were very meticulous and careful. Leaving a dead body - especially one of their own - was sloppy. Even if they had wanted to get rid of one of their own - which she didn't remember ever happening but then again, she didn't remember everything - they would most likely remove all evidence that the said person was an Alice. The fact that an Alice just landed in their lap, it was almost...suspicious.

The elevator dinged, and with a resolved sigh, Mikan walked in the FBI morgue, asking to see body #7390. The coroner, a small stout woman named Patty nodded, pulling out the bed - but it was empty. Mikan looked around suspiciously, then at the confused coroner, who mumbled, "must've been the wrong number."

Mikan shook her head, pushing the coroner out the door, "Get out, now, hurry," When the coroner looked at her in alarm, she made eye contact, "run," Mikan pressed a phone into the coroner's hand, indicating a red button on the back of the phone, "if you hear anything, press this button." The coroner nodded in confusion, stumbling out the door.

Not a minute later, Patty heard a large crash. Trembling, head in a whirlwind, shocked to the bone, she ended up hiding behind a corner near the elevator. With widened eyes, and trembling fingers, the coroner pressed the button.

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When the entire A Team heard the sound they recognized as the emergency call, they picked up immediately seeing it was from their only missing member, "Mikan?" Natsume spoke first.

"I-I-I" an unfamiliar female voice stuttered, "She-she told me to-to-call," a sharp gasp, and they heard gunshots in the background. The team headed out to the elevator, "where are you? Who are you?"

"The - I - please -" The unknown female was unable to continue for there was a clatter, as if the phone was dropped.

Natsume scowled at the phone, as if mentally killing it for its uselessness.

Hotaru, on the other hand, had somehow already traced the call. "The morgue." She told the team.

Koko furrowed his eyebrows, "The morgue?"

Natsume was confused himself, but rounded up Koko, Kitsuneme, and Mochu to go with him.

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As soon as the coroner left the room, Mikan looked around warily, taking out her gun, putting her senses on high alert.

Suddenly a heavy body jumped on her back, attempting to strangle her, but she threw him off. He fell against a metallic table, turning it over. It made a loud crash just as Mikan turned around sharply. She didn't get a good look at him, for he was already up and moving.

She located him with the shine of a silver, which she presumed was a blade. It twisted back and forth, creating a silvery illusion, like the gust of a wind.

She remembered combating - perhaps even training with him - so long ago. With determined eyes, she knew to never stay in one spot. She tumbled around, and dropped to the ground, shooting at the air. But with one swift breeze, her gun was twisted out of her hands, and clattered across the floor. She made sure to hold on to the arms twisting her, and reverse the effect. But her opponent pulled her off the floor, holding her captive with her legs flailing. Mikan took the chance to twirl around him, releasing herself, and doing a 360 so she could get in a fatal kick before he leaves the spot.

But she only kicked air, and she was on high alert again.

"Why did you want to get in here?" She asked, dodging the gleam of the silver jabbing at her.

"To get to you," the wind breathed in her ear.

"Fine, I'm here," Mikan paused, her eyes constantly taking in the pattern of the shine of the blade. "What do you want?"

"But you haven't won yet," her opponent teased as they circled around. They knocked over tables as Mikan dodged and ducked, slide and swerved.

"Your tactic is to tire the opponent," Mikan started, speaking from her newly regained memory, "You're swift, and you hack at your opponent until they burn out. They can feel it, but they can't see it coming. But as the wind, you have a pattern." She was pushed out the hallway and heard the strangled sobs of the coroner. She narrowed her eyes an annoyance, acknowledging that the coroner hadn't run far like she told her to. She pushed a table her way, trapping the coroner into a corner and away from the fighting. "A pattern," Mikan double flipped over a table, starting to gain an advantage, "that I'm starting to get used to."

She then executed a number of kicks as she did a 540 degree turn, then jabs and attacks that are completely random.

The series threw her attacker off his pattern and this made him only slightly slower. But slightly was all Mikan needed to capture his blade and turn it back against him.

Mikan had the blade long enough to slice her attacker before the "wind" began moving again. However, the injury had indeed slowed him down even more. Mikan took the chance to attack, tripping him first, then punching and kicking as he fell, to slow him down even more. Finally, she used the table to trap him against the wall.

They were at a standstill. Mikan panted heavily as she stared at the trapped man. He was breathing as heavily, his soft silvery hair accumulated only little drops of sweat. He had a slight smile on his pale face, as if he knew something she didn't. She noticed quickly that he had already changed to a different attire, wearing all black.

He stood up slowly, causing Mikan to back up a little.

He said name was Hayate Matsudaira. He smiled kindly, but a dark glint in his eye held Mikan back from trusting him.

"Why are you here?" Mikan asked, not bothering to introduce herself.

"I already told you. I want you." Hayate kept a constant smile as he stepped out from behind the table, his palms held up as a motion of peace. "And you won over me. Still good, eh?"

"What do you want?" Mikan repeated, still keeping her distance. She then realized the answer in his face, and rephrased her question, "What do you want from me?"

Hayate's smile grew to a full-blown grin, "So I heard you're investigating us in this case..."

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When the elevator ding-ed, the four men of the A Team took no time in taking out their guns, ready and pointed ahead of them even before the elevator doors opened. They found the coroner trembling in a corner behind an overturned table. Kitsuneme immediately went to assist and question the poor lady as the other three continued down the hallway. They were both dismayed and perplexed to find a mess of overturned tables, broken glass, knocked over paperwork, and an open, empty deathbed.

But most importantly, there was no Mikan, no intruder, no one. Natsume looked up to a distant corner, where the security camera should, but found it to be lying on the ground underneath, broken from its support on the wall.

Natsume turned around to look at Koko bent over, inspecting the broken glass, and Mochu examining the empty deathbed. They all stepped carefully, making sure not to mess up the crime scene too much. Natsume looked in the cabinets, quickly finding a box of gloves. He threw a pair to each, then left the box on the table. He grabbed one himself, only wearing it on his right ahnd.

"Number 7390," Mochu spoke, looking up just in time to catch Natsume's eye. He held up a forgotten slip, "she came to see this bed." Then he gestured to the said bed, "but it's been wiped down...if anything was here at all."

Natsume looked to Koko, who stood up with a few papers. He shrugged at Natsume, "log here says Mikan signed in about ten minutes ago. The coroner called us eight minutes ago. What could've happened in five minutes?"

Natsume frowned deeply, but didn't answer the question. Instead, he asked another, "any records on 7390?"

"I was looking," Koko replied in befuddlement, "There's nothing, either there was nothing there or it was stolen. I don't know."

Kitsuneme walked in the room, whistling at the mess, then reported, "Her name's Patty and she said Mikan basically came in to see 7390 but when she took it out it was empty and Mikan had this look on her face...the way she told Patty to hide, it made Patty panic and scared. She ran as told, but she called us after the first crash. Also," Kitsuneme grinned victoriously, "apparently Mikan was fighting with somebody that led out to the hallway, and it stopped eventually. Which is probably when Mikan won - I mean, let's be real, Mikan is awesome." Koko and Mochu rolled his eyes as Natsume gave him an annoyed look. Kitsuneme went on, "But here's what's interesting. They started talking, and Patty said there was a male and female voice - obviously the female one is Mikan. She said, why are you here? He said, he wanted her. Then she said what do you want from me? And then he said something about a case but in order for her to get more information they have to talk somewhere else. She refused at first."

"At first?" Natsume gritted his teeth, would Mikan really fall into such a sketchy trap?

"Then there was a really loud shatter, as if all the glass broke, and suddenly there were more voices."

"What?"

"I don't know," Kitsuneme shrugged, "Maybe Patty got a little too frightened and started imagining things, I don't even - but anyway, as soon as it got silent, and I quote, really, completely, eerily silent, the elevator ding-ed and we arrived."

"All that in five minutes?" Koko's forehead wrinkled.

"So basically we just missed her getting kidnapped." Mochu summed up.

"That's the thing." Kitsuneme replied, crossing his arms, "I asked Patty that, and she said she wasn't sure. She recognized Mikan's voice and she didn't sound panicked at all-"

"Of course she wouldn't. We were trained to stay calm and shit." Koko interrupted.

"No," Kitsuneme gave Koko an annoyed glance, "she said she sounded annoyed, actually, and said something about this being all planned out. Patty wasn't sure, she was just trying to keep as quiet as possible. Then just complete silence."

"Mikan has been kidnapped." Kitsuneme stated heavily, letting the statement sink in with the four at the scene and also with the rest of the team through their ear pieces.

"So," Mochu sighed, "What do we do?"

"We do what we usually do," Natsume replied firmly, as the three looked to him, "We investigate."

The other three members of the A Team nodded, looked around for clues.

"The windows," Kitsuneme pointed to the little rectangular openings that used to have glass to protect it from the outside. It was being covered, instead, by block of cement. "But they're too small to fit an actual human being. And where did the cement come from?"

"Have a sample sent to Nonoko." Natsume ordered.

"It's a busy street outside." Koko stared at the windows, "they can't just climb out of those windows without anybody noticing."

"Pedro the doorman is always watching outside." Mochu added. Quietly, he muttered, "My homeboy Pedro don't sleep, either."

"Then maybe you should ask your homeboy Pedro if he's seen anything." Natsume replied irritably.

"Alright, okay," Mochu turned to leave, making a face to Koko to communicate Natsume's mood. Koko made a face back, patting Mochu back as he passed by, communicating an 'it's okay, he'll get over it'.

"Gather evidence and send it up," Natsume snapped shortly, moving to pick up the broken camera just as Kitsuneme moved to grab gloves.

Natsume turned the camera around for a minute, searching for something, then finally opened a small compartment to reveal an external storage card.

He went over, grabbing the slip to the morgue bed #7390 from where Mochu left it. He noted the written date. He slipped the slip into an evidence bag along with the microchip from the camera.

Natsume looked around, seeing that Koko and Kitsuneme are examining the scene carefully for any evidence, putting any kind of clue in evidence bags.

Without a word, he left them to their work, heading to the elevator to head back up to their floor and hand Hotaru the microchip.

.

.

.

The team worked separately with their own parts of the investigation before coming together at the conference table.

"The security camera was taken down in a method that is just - the man was moving too fast we could've even catch any part of his body at all, it's just a blur- and the 'dead body' infiltration...I wouldn't say any of this was sloppy." Yuu meekly disagreed, "In fact, it was quite an ingenious way to gain entrance into the morgue, and the building as a whole."

"Wait." Natsume spoke up, then looked directly at Yuu, "You said gain entrance into the morgue."

Yuu nodded, not quite following his point.

"There's a billion different ways to get in this building, but they picked the morgue for a reason."

"Yeah," Koko piped, "the least security."

"Security is the least of their worries," Hotaru dissented. When all eyes turned to her and Natsume's eyes penetrated her head darkly, she added quickly, "From the way the security cameras were taken down so swiftly."

When everyone else accepted that reasoning, Natsume and Hotaru exchanged a glance, knowing that they both have a suspicion to whom the culprit may be.

Natsume changed the subject, "Koko, did you find anything missing from the papers?"

Koko shook his head and shrugged at the same time.

Natsume stared hard at the table for a second, then looked up, as if he just made an executive decision, "We're gonna need to put everything back together to find out what's missing."

The team nodded, dispersing from the conference table.

Yuu added after the people heading to the elevator, "With gloves!"

.

.

.

Mikan scowled ferociously.

She didn't like being kept in the dark. It was one of the things she hated the most.

Right now, she's being kept in the dark both figuratively and literally.

She tugged at her hands tied behind her back. She could feel the coarseness of the rope biting into her skin. She wiggled her ankles slightly, in an attempt to alleviate the tightness of the rope around her ankles. With her eyes open, she stared straight ahead, trying to see past her black blindfold.

She bit her lip, then spoke in annoyance, "This is so unnecessary."

Luna's voice came from her right, "Maybe."

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" Mikan could just feel Luna sneering.

Before Luna could reply however, another voice cut in, "Your discomfort is indeed quite amusing."

Mikan dug in her memories, that voice is so familiar, yet it rubbed her ear drums the wrong way. It was like the sound of metal scratching a chalkboard. She shivered slightly.

There was a echoing clank as a door swung open heavily.

A scraping of a chair was heard. Shuffling of clothes. Then silence.

Mikan's blindfold slipped from her eyes and she blinked a couple of times before she realized that it was not her eyes, but the room that was dark.

She tried to squint through the darkness but she couldn't see much. A man was sitting in a chair in a far corner, in the perfect spot where she couldn't tell what he looked like. A tall dark man in a white mask stood next to him. Mikan figured Luna was behind her on her right.

"It's been a while, Mikan." The man, presumably the leader, spoke casually.

Mikan only stared at the dark spot.

He didn't seem bothered by her silence for he continued, "I would love to chat some more with you, about those memories of yours? We need to work on that. " His voice was smooth, silky, and the way he talked, as if everything he said was reasonable. "But the point of this meeting is about that case you're working on?"

When Mikan inhaled quickly. He continued, "Yeah we know. You can't hide anything from us."

Mikan bravely spoke, "What do you want?"

"Well, if we're going to get straight to the point, I want you to stop working on it. Simple as that."

Mikan looked dubiously at the darkness. "Why?"

"We're on a tight schedule. Everything we do here must be executed in perfect order. And, frankly, we don't have time to factor your little investigation into our schedule."

"I never asked for an appointment."

"Well, you got one. Congratulations." The leader replied a little snarkily. Then his voice softened back to reasoning tone. Listening to his voice almost felt like brainwashing. "This appointment was for many different reasons. First, you're due for number six. If you haven't figured already, we're speeding up your little memory process. Our plans have been modified from when we first wrote the formula for your memory recovery program. Second, you'll understand, by the end of this meeting, why we need you put your case on a hiatus. Third, we actually have a favor to ask of you. Just a little something you need to do for us."

"Why would I do anything for you?" Mikan scowled, "You kidnapped me."

"Right, about that," the voice replied quickly, "Hayate said you had suspicions we were planning something today. How did those suspicions come about?"

"Little notes have been left in my case notes that really needed me to be at the morgue at a certain day."

"Hmm," there was movement in the darkness, as if he shook his head. "Too obvious, Hayate."

"Sorry, sir." Hayate's voice came from behind her, to the left.

In the little divergence from the main subject, Mikan took the chance to release her clasped hands, letting the cut ropes fall to the ground. She pushed her feet backwards, her upper body forwards, as if about to do a push up. She swung the chair so it hit both Luna and Hayate. She then knocked Hayate out with her legs while he was surprised then focused Luna.

Suddenly, a sharp pang of shock passed through her nerves, and Mikan collapsed to the floor panting.

.

.

.

"I don't know, Mikan is awesome, so she probably broke out by now," Koko theorized with a cheerful shrug, "I mean we just have to pinpoint like around where she is, and then we'll find her!"

"We lost the trail a mile from where she was taken, Koko," Kitsuneme glanced at Koko in frustration, "How are we supposed to know where she is now?"

"Hotaru has a tracker on her." Koko smiled cheekily, and they both turned to look at a blank faced Hotaru.

She looked up, then emotionlessly admitted, "True."

Mochu, who was nearby, came over, "wait if you have a tracker on Mikan does that mean-"

"You have a tracker on all of us?!" Kitsuneme interrupted with a dropped jaw.

Hotaru only looked at them squarely then shrugged, neither denying nor admitting. Instead, she went back to the original subject, "it's been disabled."

Natsume had looked up from his desk, calling out, "Last position?"

"Heavily encrypted."

"But you're Hotaru Imai!" Koko replied dramatically, as if that was supposed to explain why it should be decrypted.

"What do you think I've been working on for the past hour?" Hotaru snapped.

The three musketeers immediately backed off, back to their own investigations.

.

.

.

"Luna was right," the voice in the darkness commented lightly, "You _are_ out of shape. You didn't feel the electrocuting vest on you? I mean, you were in it for a month."

"Remember the number of different ways she tried to get out of it?" Persona added. The leader and Persona shared a small reminiscent chuckle.

Mikan scowled at the fact the two men laughed at her suffering like it was a joke. She heard shuffling behind her, probably Luna and Hayate dusting themselves off.

"Leave her." the leader commanded. He paused for a second, then addressed her, "Mikan, do you remember now?"

When she didn't reply, he continued, "this is where you spent your month after you were captured as a traitor. Do you remember our talk that first day?"

Slowly, Mikan shook her head.

"You will," the leader spoke confidently. "You were supposed to forget, until now. Now you will remember every single one of our talks and every single second you spent in here."

He paused for effect.

Mikan remained resolutely silent.

"You'll remember why you were an Alice. You'll remember why you still are."

.

.

.

"Ever heard of that saying, you don't know what you got 'til it's gone?"

Natsume looked up at Koko irritably, "You're not my therapist." At Koko's responding face, he glared at him, "and I don't need one."

Koko thought about saying, "are you sure?" but due to Natsume's current mood, he supposed he'd keep his mouth shut for once.

"What've we got so far?" Natsume changed the subject.

"It has nothing to do with us. Or FBI. They wanted her, and her especially. We don't know who or what or why. But we know where."

Natsume snapped to him, the same time as Koko turned to look at him evenly.

"Hotaru and Mochu are on their way. Anna and Kitsuneme are back up."

Natsume kept his cool, not sure if he should be annoyed that they didn't consult him or impressed that they left quickly. "Mochu and Hotaru. That's an odd mix."

"That's what I told Yuu," Koko grinned, then offered him a communicator. Natsume took it form his head as Koko put one on himself.

Immediately, noise flooded their ears.

Lil Wayne - Mochu

Mac & Cudi - Anna and Kitsuneme

Wale - Hotaru

"_Lil Wayne moving in the rear..."_

"_Mac & Cudi ready." _

"_Lil Wayne in position."_

"_Lil Wayne go on three, as quietly as possible and turn sharp left, Mac & Cudi on four, straight ahead."_

"_Roger that, Wale."/ "Copy."_

"_One...two...wait...three! Wait for it...Four!"_

_A lot of shooting and noise._

"_What the hell?"_

"_What is it, Wale - Oh HELL no." / "Wale, what the hell!"_

"_OUT! RETREAT! ABORT! NOW!"_

.

.

.

Narumi tapped his fingers on his desk. Waiting.

Quietly, he counted down, three...two...one...

Nothing.

He tapped his fingers again.

Then the door flung open angrily, as with the man that charged in. Narumi sat up quickly, clasping his hands together, "Misaki!"

"You sent your agents out into a trap!" He exclaimed angrily.

"In my defense, I did not know it was a trap."

"You almost cost half your team. Your team, the best agents of FBI." Misaki sat down heavily, "You can't just willy nilly let them do whatever they want!"

"I trust their judgement." Narumi replied evasively.

"Who are they up against, Narumi?"

Narumi smiled slightly, "Classified."

"Don't you pull rank - we're on the same level." Misaki scowled.

"I still can't tell you." Narumi smiled wider, knowing that it was annoying him.

"Does -" Misaki paused, as if unsure to ask his question. But he barrelled on, "Does the head of FBI know?"

Narumi looked down at his clasped hands grimly, "No. He doesn't."

.

.

.

"What happened?" Natsume demanded as soon as the four landed on the A floor.

"It was a trap." Mochu stated.

"This is the third false lead." Anna sighed.

"This is too dangerous!" Yuu exclaimed.

"Whoever these are, they're good." Kitsuneme shook his head.

"They're safe," Hotaru stated, "they're careful. They're hiding something."

"Whatever it is," Kitsuneme replied in annoyance, "we're still back to square one."

Natsume's thoughts flew quickly. He spoke out suddenly, "They picked the morgue for a reason."

"We went down that road already." Mochu's hands stretched upwards in frustration, "there's nothing!"

"Nothing that we know of." Hotaru stated.

"What?" Yuu asked, looking around in confusion. Then becoming even more confused when both Natsume and Hotaru headed for the elevator, "where are you going?"

"Narumi's office." Natsume replied shortly.

.

.

.

Mikan almost felt dizzy by the end of the discussion. There was just too much at stake and too much to consider.

"You understand?" The leader would ask in between explanations. And then he'd say, "Do you agree?"

She would think about it, and she would, listening to reason, agree.

.

.

.

"What are you hiding in the morgue?" Natsume demanded, both palms pressing heavily down on Narumi's mahogany desk. Hotaru stood behind him with her arms crossed, eyes just as cold as her temporary partner.

Narumi replied calmly, "There's nothing to hide in the morgue, it's one of the rooms with the least security in our building." he looked up to meet their eyes, "We wouldn't hide anything in there."

There was a long moment of silence as Natsume straightened with gritted teeth and Hotaru narrowed her eyes at Narumi.

Suddenly, his phone rang, and with deliberate slowness, Narumi picked it up, with a slightly fake cheerful voice, he spoke into the receiver, "McDonald's."

Slightly annoyed at the lack of revelation, Natsume stomped out while Hotaru's brows knitted together as the gears of her brain turned.

When they got to the elevator. Instead of going up, Hotaru pressed M for Morgue. Natsume said nothing.

There was a long awkward silence. Then Natsume spoke, "You have suspicions about who is behind this?"

"No." Hotaru replied quickly.

Natsume quietly, looking away awkwardly.

After a pause, Hotaru spoke, "Just a thought. No proof. An idea without proof is to be ignored. Or pursued until there is proof."

Natsume nodded.

The rest of the ride was silent.

When they arrived, the two strode in the morgue, looking around at the newly organized and repaired floor.

"What are we looking for?" Natsume asked.

"Something in plain sight." Hotaru replied vaguely.

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.

.

"Now tell me what you understand from this discussion" The shadow moved further into the darkness, as if sitting back.

Mikan thought about it for a second, "This meeting never happened. I'll stop investigating your case. I understand why we are doing this memory recovery program. I remember every last second of that month...of hell." Mikan took a deep breath and swallowed, "Uh, and I have two favors to do for you."

"Good." But the voice didn't seem content.

Mikan bit her lip, knowing that "good" wasn't good enough. There was a long bout of silence before she sat up. She looked into the darkness evenly, "I remember why I was and am an Alice."

"Excellent."

Mikan breathed a sigh of relief.

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.

.

Hotaru opened drawers and cabinets, scanning quickly. Natsume stood in the middle of the room and looked around for anything that stood out to him.

The floor were checkered tiles of black and white. But some of the black tiles were marbled and some were not. Natsume stared at the marbled tiles for a second. He then climbed on top of a table so he could get a bird's eye view of the marbled tiles. It seemed to be placed randomly.

He stood there for a while. Natsume hopped down with a scowl. But his face cleared when he noticed something move under his feet. He stomped at the marble tile under his feet and noticed there was a slight change. He bent down, pulling at the marble tile. Surprisingly, it easily came off.

He felt around at the other tiles, then lifted a black tile that was diagonally across from the marbled one. With one in each hand, he realized the marbled tile was heavier than the black tile. He placed the marbled tile where the black was and vice versa.

Hotaru caught on, but opted to stand and watch.

Quickly, Natsume went around to all the marbled tiles, replacing the ones that could be lifted. Once he replaced the last tile, they both heard something slide open. Hotaru turned around trying to pinpoint where she heard the sound. Natsume stood up, looking around for something that changed.

Hotaru started looking through all the cabinets then the drawers. When nothing was out of place, they both headed for the body beds. Starting on opposite ends, they opened to black bags or empty beds. Hotaru was first to reach the bottom center, where she pulled out manila files instead of an empty body bed. It seemed like the body bed was a cover for the hidden files.

Natsume came over and they both looked through the files.

It wasn't long before they realized the central theme of the files. Natsume was the first to speak, "This is all the Esprit de Corps files -"

"They were supposed to have been burnt."

Natsume put the file he was holding back and then shuffled through the other folders quickly. He picked one out, "The Alice safehouses."

Hotaru put back the manila folder she was holding too and looked through the folder with him. They filtered the places, stating that either it was burnt down or infiltrated or they were sure it was no long an Alice safe house.

"The beginning one had to be gone," Natsume theorized, "we were careful." They skipped to the end, filtering the last few until they stumbled upon a sticky note with an address.

Hotaru looked at it, then entered in her smart phone. Finally she said, "I don't remember this."

"It's close." Natsume stated.

Hotaru nodded, knowing that had to be it.

They put the file back and closed the body bed. Natsume rearranged the tiles back to where they were. Hotaru looked around, and caught sight of the security camera. She stared at it for a second, noticing the green light was off. "Someone turned off the camera."

Natsume looked up. They both looked at each other. Hotaru growled, "Narumi."

"Sneaky bastard." Natsume added.

.

.

.

The rest of the A Team looked up, gathering around when Natsume and Hotaru finally showed up at the floor.

Hotaru held up her phone, "I have an address, let's go."

The rest of the team looked at each other in confusion. Koko spoke up, "how?"

"Going to Narumi's office got you an address?" Yuu asked dubiously.

"Damn, he got all the answers don't he?" Mochu commented.

"No, got it from the morgue, c'mon," Natsume stated curtly, grabbing his things and heading back to the elevator.

The team paired up, all piling into the elevator.

It didn't take them long to get to the place.

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.

.

The man with the white mask touched his ear slightly, then bent down to whisper into the darkness.

"Ah," the leader replied out loud, "time to move."

Mikan felt a slight sting in her neck, at the same time as a black blindfold covered her eyes again. She drifted off to unconsciousness, the last thing she could see was a short figure walking out of the darkness, flanked by the tall dark man with the white mask.

.

.

.

They burst into the old factory quietly, but was surprised to find no resistance. It was completely barren and empty.

It didn't take them long to find Mikan, for she was the only heat signature. She was lying unconscious, blindfolded, and her hands and ankles tied in a room in a corner of the factory.

When they released her from her bonds and untied her blindfold, Anna quickly held a finger under her nose and another under her neck. She looked up to eager eyes, "it's like she's sleeping."

They breathed a sigh of relief. Natsume carried her to the car, and headed back to the building while Hotaru secured the perimeter with Anna and Nonoko, looking if the perpetrators left any clue.

.

.

.

"Look guys, I'm fine!" Mikan twirled around dramatically. When she stopped she smiled, "so how'd you find me?"

"It was weird actually," Koko replied, "Natsume and Hotaru had like revelation or something, found some kind of hidden code in the morgue-"

"Yeah!" Kitsuneme interrupted in his excitement, "It was so weird they just came up with this address and they were so confident you were gonna be there."

"But it was rush hour and traffic everywhere," Mochu continued the story, "I was sittin' in the backseat behind Natsume, _damn_ you should'a seen him. He was like SWERVE, all o' y'all!"

"We were all like chill out," Anna spoke, in turn, "'cause we went to like five different places and they were all false leads, we were all just tired out."

"But they were right," Nonoko smiled brightly, "you were there and we found you!"

"We never actually figured out who they were or anything," Yuu added thoughtfully, "but they were good. We were just focusing on getting you back."

Mikan smiled, waving at them dismissively, "it's fine guys, don't worry about it."

"So, what was it all about?" Koko pursued curiously, "who was he?"

"He was in one of the missions I did for CIA and I was kind of curious so I went to check it out. I didn't think he'd be captured, you know? 'Cause I never did capture him. The fact that he was found dead and he came to FBI was kind of mind-blowing. So I wanted to go and see for myself." Mikan nodded, staring at the rest of the team convincingly.

"You shouldn't have."

"No," Mikan responded, giving a ridiculous look, "it's a good thing I did. I mean, the bureau would've been under attack right?"

"But you were under attack instead."

"It's just me! I can take care of myself."

.

.

.

Mikan was slightly annoyed she was under scrutiny so much. I mean, last month it was the Luna Injection (they started calling it), and now the kidnapping. She loved socializing but she didn't like that kind of attention. She felt like a drama queen or a damsel in distress.

She tore herself away from the spotlight again. This time, she was the first to text Narumi; _we need to talk. Hopefully soon. Maybe right now?_

Not a minute later, she got a reply. _Right now will work!_

Mikan made sure no one saw her leave, unaware of a pair of amethyst and scarlet orbs turn in her direction the moment she turned her back. The two pairs of sharp eyes turned to each other, knowing something was up.

Hotaru and Natsume had known all along she was lying. It wasn't hard. They were perceptive and they were closer to her than the rest. She probably knew that of all of them, they would be the ones that could tell. As she told her story, they found that she couldn't keep eye contact with either of them for more than a split second.

Once the celebration climaxed, Hotaru stole away from the crowd. Natsume's sharp eyes caught her, following her stealthily.

Natsume paused at Hotaru's lab office door, staring at the slight crack, revealing that it is open. So Hotaru knew he was following her. He walked in, to the nonchalance of Hotaru. "You knew I would follow, didn't you?"

"We both know Mikan's lying. We will both find out why." Hotaru stated monotonously, calling for a silent partnership.

Natsume remained silent, standing near Hotaru as she sat down in a chair surrounded by monitors and technology. She pressed a few keys, then enlarged one security camera feed.

The screen showed a very clear, colored video feed of Narumi's office, seemingly from a higher level. It showed a clear view of his entire office, it was high quality enough to zoom in on the contents of his desk. As of now, Mikan sat in a chair in front of Narumi. They talked with grim faces.

"You put a bug in Narumi's office?"

Hotaru sent him a look, a mixture of both 'shut up', 'are you dumb? Of course I did'. She increased the sound range on her device.

_Mikan was saying. "They kept me in the dark."_

"_And the purpose?"_

"_They wanted to send a message."_

"_That much I got." Narumi laughed dryly. "They wanted to show us we're the weak one."_

"_Apparently it was number six." Mikan paused, before explaining, "you know, the monthly thing Luna does."_

"_Being kidnapped. Okay." Narumi frowned slightly, "What's with the numbers?"_

"_They're counting up the months of my recovery," Mikan shrugged, "I guess."_

"_Up to...?"_

"_I don't know." Mikan replied stiffly, her face carefully schooled and her body completely rigid._

_Narumi stared at her for a moment. "Okay, what was the message?"_

"_The Alices are back." Mikan stated heavily._

_Narumi sat back as if the weight of the world had just landed on his shoulders._

Hotaru cursed, annoyance prominent on her face, "we destroyed them years ago."

Natsume's face had darkened. He stated, as if trying to convince himself, "Esprit de Corps can't have been in vain."

Hotaru glanced up quickly, "we got Mikan on our side." When Natsume remained silent, Hotaru stared at the wall distantly, "or did we...?"

"We did." Natsume stated firmly, "Even when she was an Alice she had morals, she wanted out, she knew right and wrong. She's gonna pick the right side." When Hotaru looked up at Natsume, he asserted, "You know she will."

"I'm not doubting her," Hotaru defended quickly. "I'm just being objective."

Natsume looked away, turning to the screen. Hotaru followed.

"_They're stronger. They're back for revenge, Narumi!" Mikan had jumped up in the heat of her argument, "Since you took them down the last time, they thought they were weak before. That should say something about how they are now."_

"_I can't just-" Narumi sat in his chair, looking helpless._

"_Yes you can!" Mikan emphasized by slapping his desk with each word. She seemed to have realized her aggressiveness for she calmed down enough to sit back down. Softer, she reasoned, "You put together a team that took them down once already, you can do it again."_

"_They're like the Hydra, in Hercules," Narumi told her gently, "You cut off one head, it grows two more. Look, just let it be for a while- "_

"_No!" Mikan responded furiously, "Don't you understand? They've been planning this for years! They're planning for something big and they're coming after you! Any longer, you will - we should attack them before they attack us!" Mikan searched his face, apparently not understanding why Narumi was being so submissive. Then something hit her, almost literally, for she sat forward, her eyes wide. "They already attacked you, didn't they?"_

_Narumi remained silent, his face the most grim Natsume or Hotaru has ever seen. _

_Silence was Mikan needed for she immediately went on a rampage, "Why didn't you tell me? What did they do to you? Did they have a message? Why are you still alive? What do they want from you?"_

_Narumi didn't answer any of those questions. Instead, he sighed, "I'm counting my blessings, Mikan, I'm still alive, okay? I'm a senior agent. It happens. And since it happened already, it's not a big deal."_

_Mikan sat back with a concerned, unconvinced face, but let it go. Quietly, she asked, "That's why you had me on that assignment, isn't it?"_

_Narumi, again, didn't reply, but said instead, "I told you to research and that's it. Come back to me when you have answers to all the questions." Narumi stared at Mikan's rebellious face, "Mikan, look at me." _

_She slowly raised her head to stare him in the eye. _

"_I know it doesn't seem like it, but slow and steady wins the race, okay?" Narumi smiled sadly, then his smile dropped. Firmly, he stated, "Do not take action, you understand me? I promise that we will do it when the time's right. We won last time because we hit them where it hurt. We gotta know our opponents inside and out before we aim, Mikan. Do not take action."_

"_Mkay." Mikan quietly responded, nodding faithfully._

"_Good." Narumi nodded, his smile returning, "Take care, Mikan, and I mean it."_

_._

_._

_._

"You can't hide her from me, Narumi."

Narumi schooled his face carefully when he looked up to face electric blue orbs and a hard face. "Jinno." Narumi smiled in greeting, "what are you going off about now?"

"I know who Mikan Sakura is."

"You really need to stop visiting so much, the other agents on this hall might be a little suspicious," Narumi winked, completely ignoring his associate's statement.

Jinno stared at him in annoyance. But he continued stoically. "I know what you're doing and I also know who you're working for."

Narumi gave him a skeptical look, "Yes, because it's the same guy you're working for."

"No, not Izumi." Jinno replied, referring to their FBI director. He stared his associate down meaningfully.

Narumi masked his emotions, staring back evenly. "Okay, I'll humor you." Narumi replied after a moment, "sit down," he gestured to the chair in front of his desk, "go ahead. Tell me your theory."

Jinno sat but looked unsettled. "Mikan Sakura isn't who you say she is."

"Okay," Narumi interrupted quickly, sitting back, "when you come up with such ridiculous theories, you want something from me. Flowers? Love? It's okay, just ask, Jinno, it's not that hard."

He only received an unimpressed stare. "I'm not concocting this off the top of my head."

"Okay, I'm used to all your paranoid spy theories, but Mikan? Come on." Narumi replied jokingly.

"Sakura's one of a terrorist organisation, isn't she?" Jinno finally blurted, "She's your informant." he then sat up, adding to this theory, "No, you're working for them. I don't know what organization it is yet, but I will find out."

"The Alices." Narumi finally spoke, his face darkened by the heaviness of the subject.

Jinno, himself, was caught by surprise, "what?"

"That's what this is all about, isn't it?" Narumi continued, "You just want to catch the Alices."

"I want justice."

"You want to connect the Alices to something in this bureau so badly you're seeing things."

"I have very valid suspicions."

"Look, the break-in, I understand." Narumi continued, "Yes, it was an alice, and yes, Mikan was kidnapped, but we got her back and you know we'll never be able hold the Alices accountable. "

"The kidnapping was staged."

"They could kill someone on public television but somehow find a way to get out of it. It's frustrating. I get it."

"You put her on the Alices case."

"I wouldn't call it an Alices case."

"She has something to do with this doesn't she?"

"We'll get the Alices eventually, Jinno. Izumi said he'll take action soon, you just need to be patient. Start shooting at things, I don't know, get a hobby, so you don't come to me again with crazy ideas like that."

"Looks like you don't want to confess, that's fine." Jinno concluded with annoyance, "I'll find out sooner or later."

Jinno paused suddenly the moment he closed Narumi's door. Narumi had craftily led him to the answer.

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**Bloopers**

"remember that time when nobody liked you?" Mikan scowled when Luna retied her hands.

"No."

"It's every day of your life."

Hayate let out a cough-laugh, and Luna sent him a look.

_It's fun to be mean to Luna ok._

**"lights, camera, action!"**

"you can't hide her from me, narumi."

Narumi schooled his face but at the sight of jinno's sharp, cutting features, he broke down, "ok I meet up with Lena the prostitute on Saturdays or are you talking about the baby I watch, Aubrey?"

"What?! What's your relationship?"

"i'm Lena's therapist and aubrey's baby sitter because her mom is ex-CIA and a friend of mine what were you thinking?"

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This is such a cliched storyline. IS MIKAN GOOD OR BAD?! Weeeelll...You'll find out! :)

Again, rushed, so let me know of any mistakes and plot holes.


	9. 7

**The A Team  
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**#7:(part one)**

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A healthy, well-built man around his 70's with pure white hair, a friendly smile, and an old baseball cap pulled his old truck into a small suburban home.

He got out of the car, grabbed the fishing poles, and headed for the front door. He fumbled with the keys for a little bit before jamming the tiny sliver of metal into the doorknob. After a few mechanical clicks and creaks, he pushed the door open.

He inhaled slowly with a smile flitting across his face. He took one step in the door before bellowing, "I'm home!" as he usually does.

When he didn't hear a reply, he peered in the rest of the house, "Honey?"

Making sure to close the door behind him, he strode by his library to drop off the fishing poles. He took off his hat as he moved on past the living room, and into the kitchen.

He stopped. His face melted into a sad smile as he watched his wife of thirty years flip through albums of photos and certificates, surrounded by boxes and piles of old memories.

He sighed as he sat down across from her.

She looked up fleetingly, then snapped to him in surprise. Flustered, she exclaimed, "Oh, you're home! I'm sorry - I didn't - I was just - this is-" She pushed her faded golden locks back as she tried to organize the mess on the kitchen island, shuffling photos back to its original boxes. She was however, unproductive as her husband picked up pictures from her hands. He smiled at her, replacing the picture with his hand.

"It's okay." He breathed out consolingly. She smiled back at him, creasing wrinkles around her soft eyes. He looked down at their daughter's graduation photos and her beaming smile. "I miss her too, Elizabeth."

She grabbed another photo of their daughter, Ephemelda, in college. She held it in her hands, smiling down at it fondly. Then her eyes flitted up worriedly, "She hasn't called in two months, John."

John tapped his fingers in silent agreement, but optimistically replied, "She's just busy with her new project, you remember the last she called us?"

"Yeah, I'm so proud of her."

Suddenly John stood up to peer over at their calendar on the fridge, "speaking of - what day is it?"

Elizabeth furrowed her eyebrows as she shuffled and collected the memories back to their boxes, "Uh...friday, I think?" she laughed slightly, "We're starting to get used to retirement, hm?"

John only hummed in reply from his position in front of the fridge. Elizabeth looked up just as he turned around with a enthusiastic grin.

She smiled questionably at him, "What is it?"

"Today's the twenty-first." He smiled, as if that was meant to explain his source of happiness.

"Yes?" She blinked, still confused, "go on?"

"And you know what goes on TV the twenty first?"

"Something that I should remember?"

He moved on to the living room, dragging her along with him, and sitting her on the couch. "Mel's movie is coming out on lifetime today."

His wife gasped, "How could I have forgotten? Of course! When will it be on?"

John checked his watch. "In a few minutes, I'll get some popcorn started."

Elizabeth turned on the TV to the right channel, just as a commercial informed them that a new movie is coming up.

As the beginning credits rolled, John returned with a bowl of popcorn and a blanket. They snuggled comfortably, sharing the bowl.

Throughout the movie, Elizabeth only had one comment. "I've always told Mel sequins and leather just doesn't work."

John shushed her, deeply immersed in the movie.

After the movie they watched expectantly as the end credits rolled.

"Where is it?" Elizabeth whispered anxiously.

"It's coming up," John replied calmly.

Their eyes quickly picked out the words "costume designer" but was disappointed to find a name that was definitely not their daughter's next to it.

Elizabeth stood up with a frown, "now she has no reason not be calling us or avoid any contact at all for so long!"

John looked after her but said nothing, for he was worried too.

Ephemelda had never gone for so long without contacting them. No matter where she was, be it Puerto Rico, France, or Australia, she would call them and gush about how amazing it was.

Elizabeth rushed back into the living room, a hassled look on her face. "She's still not picking up."

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The A Team

Aspirator

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Ruka was relaxing in a coffee shop. After a long week of crime, even his boss knew he needed it. He swirled the coffee stirrer in his cup of coffee, looking out of the coffee shop windows at the hustle bustle of the New York City streets.

Suddenly his phone rang. He quickly picked it up, seeing the caller ID. "Natsume?" Ruka straightened, letting go of the coffee stirrer. "You sure?" There was a pause before a soft smile graced his face in response to Natsume's snarky reply. "You want me to come with you?" Ruka rolled his eyes at another one of Natsume's retorts. "Alright, Natsume, I'll come with you." Ruka replied sarcastically, though his best friend said quite the opposite. "Where is it?" There was a long pause, then one of his own as he thought about the address. "That's on the other side of the city!" he exclaimed. Another pause. "No, I'm coming." Ruka responded quickly. "Yeah, I'm at Starbucks on fifth and 43rd." he replied. Ruka smiled slightly, "What, I can't take a break?" He rolled his eyes again. "Alright, see you."

When his best friend hung up first, he stared at his phone for a second, then shook his head. He threw the coffee stirrer away along with a napkin. Putting his phone in his pocket, he grabbed the Starbucks drink, heading for the subway.

Less than twenty minutes later, Ruka stepped out of the subway station and immediately spotted his best friend waiting impatiently by the street corner. He walked up to Natsume confidently, a friendly smile pasted on his face, but a concerned look came over his eyes.

"Hey." He greeted as he came up next to Natsume, who only nodded at him. They waited for the light to turn green before walking across the street. "You should be proud of her." Ruka commented, "She got in one of the best universities in the country."

Natsume's lips curved only slightly, "Aoi's only three years younger than me, Ruka. She should have been in Cornell for two years already."

Ruka half shrugged, "Still. What do you think she's studying?"

Natsume paused, eyes wandering upwards in thought. "Veterinary." He replied.

"Veterinary?" Ruka replied in surprise, "Wow, that's awesome. Cornell's literally the top vet school in the states. Why vet?"

His best friend paused, as if considering whether or not to tell him the story. Then finally, he spoke with a shrug, "just a guess."

There a moment of silence, before Ruka spoke up, "she loved animals when she was small, didn't she?"

Natsume looked at him blankly that meant yes, but looked away absently with, "maybe."

It wasn't long before they stood in front of the tall gates of Cornell University. They walked in authoritatively, heading for...well, Ruka wasn't sure. He leaned towards Natsume, speaking lowly, "So...what's your plan?"

"We're just working on an investigation." Natsume replied stoically.

"About?"

Natsume paused, then replied half-uncertainly, "Pirating."

"Everyone pirates, Natsume."

Natsume sent him an annoyed glance. "Fine." He paused to think, then spoke up, "drugs."

"You're gonna accuse your sister of drug dealing?" Ruka raised a brow at him.

Natsume sent him another annoyed look. "What do you want from me?" He asked in exasperation.

Ruka only smiled, "No it's good, whatever works."

They walked along the cobbled path towards the headmaster's office, but Natsume paused abruptly, muttering to Ruka, "Detour."

"What?" Ruka followed after his friend in confusion, but spotted the reason quickly, "Is that who I think that is?"

Natsume didn't reply but strode boldly toward another brick building. Ruka followed quickly behind.

Mikan was glancing behind her back as she closed the wooden door. But when she turned around, she was caught entirely by surprise with the sight of familiar faces in an unfamiliar setting.

Natsume stood stoically in front of her, piercing her with his gaze. She blinked, opening her mouth, awkwardly exclaiming, "Natsume!"

"What are you doing here?" Natsume demanded.

"What he means is hey." Ruka spoke. Mikan seemed to have just noticed him, greeting him too. He smiled at her in greeting.

"Oh, uh hi!" Mikan replied awkwardly. "What's-how's-how's it going?"

"Pretty okay, you know, police life, the norm." Ruka replied conversationally.

"What are you doing here?" Natsume demanded again.

"I was just- you know-" Mikan didn't seem to be capable of finishing her sentence, pointing at the door behind her as if that might explain everything. Ruka peered at the door behind her curiously, seeing if it did explain anything. It was the door leading to the girl's dormitory. It didn't explain anything. When both of the men stared at her in question. She continued stuttering, "uh, just - uh - what are you doing here?"

"I asked you first." Natsume retorted quickly.

Mikan scowled, "Well, I asked you last."

Natsume again stared at her, "...so?"

"Okay, I was just visiting, okay." Mikan spat out irritably, in a cute scowl.

"Why?"

"...Because I can?"

Natsume stared at her for a long time as Mikan tried to hold that stare. Ruka stood awkwardly to the side, then spoke up cheerfully, "I'm here to accompany Natsume on his investigation." When the pair turned to him, he muttered, "If anyone wanted to know..."

"Oh." Mikan replied, "what's Natsume here for then?"

"None of your business." Natsume spoke curtly.

"He's helping me." Ruka piped up quickly.

"But I thought you were accompanying him...?" Mikan looked between the two in confusion.

"Yeah," Ruka nodded convincingly, "He's helping me so I'm accompanying him because he's helping me."

"Oh..." Mikan responded, though her face told them she didn't quite understand, "okay..."

There was an awkward silence between the three.

"What are you doing here?" Natsume asked for the third time that day.

"Why?" Mikan responded, crossing her arms.

Natsume looked as if about to reply with a smart retort but Ruka cut in, "We're just wondering if you're here for the same thing." When Natsume gave him a sharp look, he trailed off with, "Which is impossible...yeah..."

"Oh." Mikan looked at Ruka then at Natsume. She ended up not meeting their eyes but staring off into a point in the distance, stating stoically, "Someone I know got transferred here so I'm just visiting, okay?"

Natsume didn't respond.

Ruka piped up again with a nervous laugh, "Oh, uh, could've said that the first time, haha."

"It's a private matter." Mikan responded, her eyes coming back to meet theirs as she said so. Something seemed to be distracting her, however, as her eyes trailed away from them and at a point in the distance. She blinked, looked at her watch, then smiled at them, "I gotta go, bye!" She hurried off, running past Natsume.

"She really meant it when she said, she's gotta go." Ruka commented.

Natsume "hn"ed in agreement. Staring off after her with a thoughtful look on his face.

When Ruka saw that look on his face, he asked, "What are you thinking?"

"She's a bad liar." Natsume responded as they turned back toward the building.

"She didn't lie when she said it was a private matter though." Ruka responded optimistically.

"Hn." Natsume agreed.

"To be fair, we didn't tell her why we were here either."

"Hn."

Ruka gave his best friend a look of exasperation at his responses.

"Whatever, I don't care." Natsume finally responded with actual words.

"You telling me or you?" Ruka scoffed.

"Not you too." Natsume scowled.

"What?" Ruka replied innocently.

They arrived at the door of the headmaster. Natsume exhaled quickly. Ruka looked to his best friend as Natsume looked back at him with a hidden uncertainty in his eyes. There were no need for words.

Natsume lifted his right hand, getting ready to knock. But his knuckles met air, for the door swung open.

Ruka's jaw dropped, at a loss for words. Natsume's arm dropped and his eyes widened.

Scarlet orbs met its mirror.

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_0200 hours before._

"This case es stupido." Mikan pouted at her laptop.

"If you don't know how to talk in spanish, don't." Natsume responded.

"Rude."

"Stupid."

"Ass."

Natsume looked up with an amused smirk. Mikan realized that he could retort with another body part. She held out a finger. "Don't reply to that."

"I wasn't going to." Natsume returned to his computer.

There was a pause before Mikan started again, "She's a full adult. She could go anywhere she wants to."

"What?" Natsume looked at her in surprise, looking up from his long suffering research on his baby sister, Aoi.

"Ephemelda." Mikan stated obviously, "she's already graduated from college. She could just have turned down the offer for her to costume designer and go on a break or vacation if she wanted to."

"Oh." Natsume blinked, turning back to his work. "Hn."

"I mean, I guess she told her parents she got the job. Maybe she disagreed with the director on something and just quit. And since her parents were so proud, maybe she didn't wanna tell them. Right?" Mikan looked at Natsume expectantly.

"Unh."

"Natsume, are you listening to me?" Mikan scowled at him in annoyance.

Natsume finally snapped up and replied coolly, "if the case was so simple it wouldn't have been handed to us."

Mikan nodded, "good point." She twirled her pen around her fingers, then something in the distance caught her attention. She watched as Kitsuneme entered the lab cautiously, then came to stand beside Anna. They had a playful banter judging by their expressions and Kitsuneme left not long after, a wide grin plastered on his face.

Abruptly, Mikan stood up, then very unceremoniously plopped herself down on a seat next to Koko. She greeted cheerfully, "Hi Koko!"

"Mikan!" Koko turned to her, then seeing her expression, he smiled, "What's up?"

"Okay, I'm not that dense." Mikan started.

"I never said you were."

"So when are Anna and Kits finally going to go out?" Mikan blurted.

Koko laughed long and hard, then he looked her in the eye and said, "When are you and Natsume going to stop fighting?"

"Never." Mikan responded questionably, then she confided in him, "I mean, it's like an endless cycle, I don't really know, we start off normally but then we just somehow find something to argue about then it ends up calling each other names then we just ignore each other. And then we're back to talking about the case or something normal."

"You've fallen into a comfortable routine." Koko interpreted.

"A comfortable - no!" Mikan responded in horror.

"Who's the one with the psychology degree?" Koko raised his brow.

"I-but-" Mikan physically melted sullenly with defeat. Then she piped up, "You're changing the subject! What about Kits and Anna?"

"It's the same as you and Mr. I-don't-need-a-partner." Koko stated with a mischievous smile, "they've fallen into a comfortable routine. They just need a little push and they can go a long way." Somehow, Mikan knew Koko was referring to something more than just Kitsuneme and Anna but she didn't really understand.

"A little push." Mikan repeated, then tapped her finger to her chin, thinking to herself, "a little push, you say?"

Koko smirked, "as little as noticing that your partner's been going out of his way for you."

"What?" Mikan cocked her head to the side, trying to think of a scenario when Kitsuneme has done something out of his way for Anna. Well, she wasn't with Anna 24/7, she wouldn't know.

Koko rolled his eyes at her denseness, "forget it."

"Koko!" Yuu called from his office. When Koko turned, Yuu tilted his head as a gesture for him to go over to his office.

Koko patted Mikan's head, leaving her alone as he bounded over to Yuu's office, now covered with writing and taped pictures on his glass walls. Once he entered, he noticed Yuu easily twirling the erasable marker around his finger, an irritated frown on his face.

Koko supposed he's supposed to start, so he'll start with the simplest part of this puzzle. "She's really missing."

"Yes." Yuu agreed with the utmost certainty. He sighed as he continued, "but we must look at all angles." Koko looked to his gaze. In front of them were two flow charts.

MISSING - threats? - enemies - does she know compromising information?

RUN AWAY - safe places? - boyfriend/close friends?

"The first part of this case is all psychoanalysis and investigation." Yuu started. Koko caught him glancing past the writing on his wall at Natsume and Mikan. Koko knew that aside from himself, Yuu could sense and see the little details most people don't notice.

"They haven't been very focused recently." Koko stated quietly.

Yuu looked at him briefly, then turned to look at the pair again. "Not together," he replied, "separately. They're both separately dealing with something of their own."

"We've got a really puzzling case with no clues. It's been a week. We need Sherlock." Koko hinted not-so-subtly for Yuu to go and get their head in the game.

Yuu abruptly turned to walk to his desk to grab a notepad, "we have clues." Yuu began scribbling on the glass wall, but stopped with a sigh when he sensed Koko waiting for his answer. He turned to him. "He or she is not Sherlock. WE are Sherlock."

"Exactly, WE." Koko pushed on, "We're a team. We should work as a team."

Yuu turned back to the glass and continued writing. The confidence wavered in his voice, nonetheless, he stated, "We'll be fine."

Koko's ever-plastered smile on his face dropped for a millisecond as he glanced worriedly around the floor; his eyes sweeping past Mikan and Natsume at their desk arguing at the same time as they frowned at their computer, he noticed Hotaru's door slightly open and a glimpse of her frustration as she watched surveillance cameras over and over again, he saw Nonoko and Anna both going over every little speck of dust on the missing person's belongings, he glanced at Mochu and Kitsuneme frowning as they go over notes from the interviews for the umpteenth time. "Will we?" He asked quietly.

When Yuu didn't respond, he glanced at the chart again. Yuu had added in the newfound clues.

MISSING-

-was not big enough in the entertainment industry to be kidnapped for ransom

-most people at scene were richer than her

-(only lead) seen something/know something compromising?

-was not part of most of the filming or on set much at all

-did not show up to work on the next day

-timeframe unaccounted for: two hours after work before dinner. Did not show up to dinner with friends. There was a text from her stating she was working on a project and apologizing for the no-show. Text was tracked to her apartment at the time. Not showing up to work the next two days. A letter of resignation arrived in the mailbox of the director's house. A new, random, (unconnected to missing person) costume designer was hired.

RUN AWAY -

-open, nice, friendly character

- a small condo in Los Angeles, California, a small locker at the local post office, and a shared trailer on set in hollywood. (All already searched)

-no motive to run - all witnesses report her to be excited about job and perfectly content with relationships.

Koko tapped his finger against his chin, then dropped his arm. "Again, we got nothing."

"Well, only weird thing is that we found an unregistered gun hidden in her condo." Yuu stated, the frowned, "but it could've been from the previous tenant who was arrested for possession of illegal substances."

"Is it-"

"Unused."

Koko frowned, "so a back up gun." Yuu agreed with a nod.

The two pondered, staring at the chart. Koko even looked at it from all angles - tilting his head left, right, even attempted upside down.

Just then, Natsume passed by, headed almost purposefully to the elevator. Koko quickly stalked to the, wrenched it open, and called out to him, gesturing for him to join them. He saw the conflict and the reluctance, but duty and responsibility won over in Natsume's eyes.

"Look at this." Koko gestured at the chart, pulling Natsume over to look at it. He explained as Natsume read, "there's no motive, there's no suspect, basically we can't figure out how or why or who, we've got nothing."

There was a moment of silence as both Yuu and Koko looked expectantly at Natsume. After a pause, Natsume looked up at both of them, "then found out where."

"What?" Yuu asked for him to clarify.

"This is a missing person case right? Eventually, how or why or who won't even matter anymore, as long as you get her back." Natsume began to look far away, "you use a different tactic than investigating a death, because then you had all the time in the world. In a missing person case, time is racing against you. So you focus on just finding her."

"How?"

"Create a timeline. Start from the beginning." Natsume stated, then seeing that the two knew what they had to do now, he strode off, back to the elevator.

Meanwhile, Mikan had already snuck off for a little adventure of her own. Arriving at the back of Cornell University, she immediately spotted the person that blended in the environment the most. She approached him confidently. He was tall, carrying a backpack and wearing glasses that hid the star tattoo under his right eye. His swept black hair was tamed under a baseball hat, and he was playing on his phone like any other college kid would. As soon as she approached him, he looked up with a smile and a friendly wave. They walked side by side as if old friends walking to a class together, when in reality, he was leading her along. It wasn't long before they were ducking into dark hallways and secret passageways. And not long after, they emerged from a side door of the headmaster's office. The headmaster sat tensely as Persona stood beside him. Instead of a bodyguard vibe, Mikan got the sense that he was watching his every move.

A young college student sat in the chair in front of the headmaster. She had blond hair, but you could tell she hadn't dyed it for a while, for her roots were black. And she had the most stunning scarlet eyes.

Mikan hid her surprise well. She accepted to be a part of this mission to have a chance to look for her, but turns out, she was led to her.

Putting on her professional demeanor, she boldly walked up to the professor, introducing her alias and shaking hands with him. She then stepped back along with Tsubasa as the headmaster began the proceedings.

"Congratulations on, ahem, your years at this university," The headmaster spoke nervously, coughing occasionally, eyes darting to Persona all too often. He shuffled papers as he looked at her file, "your transfer to the University of Singapore has been verified." Organizing a pack of papers in his hand and stapling them together shakily, he cleared his throat, "As-as a unique student, your transcripts..."

Mikan's part in this, she was told, was to verify the legality of the official papers. Or in other words, make sure the people of Cornell University is not trying to pull a trick on them in anyway.

Just as the headmaster began to pack all the official papers into an envelope, Mikan stepped forward to stop him. In a very professional manner, she spoke, "I'd like to see those papers please."

Gingerly taking the papers into her arms, she looked over them briefly. Acting as the official in the room, she glanced up, nodding at Tsubasa. She ordered, "I want all files on her in Cornell, physical, digital, everything." Turning to Persona, she continued, "Check her dorm room, her classes, teachers, I do not want any type of trail at all."

The two men nodded wordlessly, one leaving the room to travel about the university, and one staying around, going through the headmaster's file cabinets, computer, etc.

The headmaster looked about nervously but said nothing, for he was told the girl in front of him was in a Witness Protection Program, a very valuable asset, and to be kept top secret.

Mikan flipped through the thick packet grimly, carefully examining every word, every comma, every signature. Her part was really just theatrics, which is just a small part in any mission. The reason Mikan was even requested to be part of this, she knew, was to slowly transition her from a government agent to an Alice agent.

Finishing up the check, Tsubasa came to stiffly stand by her. It wasn't long before he whispered in her ear, "Stop buying time. Too obvious."

Mikan sent him a look, "obvious about what?" she pretended.

"You're doing this for that idiot partner of yours."

Mikan decided it was no use pretending. "He could at least see her for a second before she disappears for good."

Tsubasa seemed as if about to reply but activity in his ear piece seemed to be distracting him. "copy." he responded. Tsubasa moved away from his position just as Persona walked back into the room. He approached Persona, whispering in his ear, who then continued on his journey to the headmaster, whispering in the headmaster's ear. When Tsubasa went back to Mikan, he didn't stop next to her, but instead opened the back door, gesturing for her to follow.

Tsubasa walked with her for a while then stopped, telling Mikan, "keep going straight, you'll get to the girl's dorm. Just find the nearest exit, and walk out. I'll be leaving from the west gate, so I'll pass by the north gate in a black BMW. You're gonna spot my car but walk along the sidewalk next to me for about a block before I pull up next to you."

Mikan nodded, and Tsubasa gave her a brotherly smile and a pat before they both turned and walked in the opposite direction.

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"What?" Ruka followed after his friend in confusion, but spotted the reason quickly, "Is that who I think that is?"

Natsume didn't reply but strode boldly toward another brick building. Ruka followed quickly behind.

Mikan was glancing behind her back as she closed the wooden door. But when she turned around, she was caught entirely by surprise with the sight of familiar faces in an unfamiliar setting.

Natsume stood stoically in front of her, piercing her with his gaze. She blinked, opening her mouth, awkwardly exclaiming, "Natsume!"

_Go away, go away, go to the headmasters now. _Mikan thought the entire time during her conversation with Ruka and Natsume. She quickly made up an excuse for her being there, for she realized Natsume would not accept no explanation for an answer. Spotting the black BMW in the distance, she noticed it has stopped temporarily. She could mentally picture Tsubasa cursing her for never following directions exactly. She quickly ran towards the exit. Just as she left the gate, she glanced behind her to see that Natsume and Ruka had resumed their original path and weren't watching her anymore. She breathed a sigh of relief before walking along the sidewalk as per Tsubasa's directions. She hoped that Natsume and Ruka wouldn't be too late.

The moment Mikan got in the car, Tsubasa was on the phone. (A/N: NEVER be on your phone while driving! Tsubasa is just a skilled Alice agent.) Mikan strained her ears to hear what the other end was saying. "_...she's with some policemen, they said they needed to talk to her about some investigation. I told them I have to contact the coordinators of the trip to tell them to wait for her_."

Mikan sat back with a hidden smile.

"Where are they now?" Tsubasa replied.

"_In the waiting room. They need a subpoena to actually bring her in, don't they?"_

"Give them five minutes to talk to her," Tsubasa replied, as he made eye contact with Mikan in the rear view mirror, adding quickly, "their questions should be answered. They have nothing to hold her on."

"_Then what?" _the other side replied nervously. Mikan figured it was the headmaster.

"She's going to some study abroad program and the bus is leaving soon. If they offer to drive her, or just postpone her, don't let them."

"_Will she...?"_

"We'll contact her. We can take care of everything." Tsubasa replied consolingly.

After a few closing notes, they hung up.

There was a moment of silence before Tsubasa spoke nonchalantly, "You're welcome."

Mikan smiled, "I knew you had a soft side."

Tsubasa rolled his eyes.

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Natsume was resolutely silent.

Ruka had snapped out of his reverie and talked to the headmaster. The headmaster had seemed put off but eventually gave them five minutes to talk to her. He only hoped five minutes was enough.

There was a tenseness in the waiting room. Ruka mentally counted down the seconds, nudging Natsume every ten seconds to let him know the sand in their hourglass is slowly but surely diminishing.

It was only after the second nudge that the first words were spoken, and they were not from either men.

"Who do you think you are?" The girl had blurted out.

"Your brother." Natsume had replied steadfastly. Ruka was almost impressed. He figured that since the ball is rolling, he'd leave them alone.

Once Ruka left, the girl spoke up again, "Yeah and you haven't visited me in -" she paused, as if trying to calculate the number of years in her head, but ended with, "too long! I'm almost twenty -"

"twenty two in a month." Natsume interrupted, causing her mouth to immediately close into a thin line. He nodded slightly, "Yeah, I know."

"You could've at least try to find me after we-" she inhaled quickly, her eyes burning scarlet in flaming temper, "I found you easily enough."

Natsume stared evenly back with similar burning eyes. He strode over to where he knew was the camera and swiftly turned it off. He turned back to her. "I'm not the one changing identities ten times." He retorted easily.

That shut her up for the second time that day. But she always found something new to argue about. "It was fifteen and it was necessary. Why, after all these years? Why are you here?"

Natsume didn't respond, asking a question of his own, "Why is it necessary?"

Her eyes suddenly hardened, and he could tell by the look on her face that she was fighting back. "You never answer my questions! Yeah, I remember when I was small you'd always say you'll explain to me later because I wasn't old enough to understand. Well, I understand perfectly. You just don't want to tell me because you don't think I can handle whatever truth there is out there. No thanks to you, I figured it out. The truth is, whatever happened, you definitely didn't want me. Also, I've been doing this for fifteen years, I should know what I'm involved in!"

"You've got it all wrong," he replied slowly. The words bit him, but they didn't have time for this, "Who is your guardian?"

"You're the great Natsume Hyuuga, best of the FBI, why don't you find out for yourself?" She scowled at him, and it struck him how stubborn she is, just like him.

"You still think I'm SuperNat, huh." He couldn't help himself from muttering, referring to her nickname for him when they were young.

He knew she heard it for he heard her sharp inhale.

However, when she refused to respond, Natsume looked at her squarely in the face. "Let me explain." He took her silence as a green light. "We don't have much time. Just know that we didn't abandon you - we -" He stopped, blinking heavily, then moved on, "you were taken from us. You're..." He was never good with words. "Dad succeeded with me...but mom died trying to save you. I never could tell you how they left us, and you...one moment, it was just us, and the next, it's just me. That feeling-"

"You're not the only one left alone." She interrupted bitterly. "That doesn't explain anything! Why am I alone in this? What actually happened to Mom and Dad?"

"I'd gladly take your place if that meant you could live a normal life." Aoi knew he meant every word of what he said by the way he locked eyes with her. She let him continue. "They were almost enlisted in a secret criminal service but they fought back - or they tried. When the...criminals found out about us, they tried to take us. Mom and Dad died fighting for us. We took care of each other and the Nogi's took care of us - I-" Natsume looked away with struggling eyes. "It was my fault you're in this mess. They should've taken me instead of you."

"I thought it was a witness protection program." Judging by Aoi's refusal to look at him straight in the face, she didn't want to believe him. At least she was listening to him for she seemed overwhelmed.

"They laid off me because they had you, I don't know what they want with you, but they're keeping you for something." Natsume answered her question from before, just as the door suddenly opened to reveal a sheepish Ruka.

"She needs to go in a minute." Ruka stated, sending a friendly smile her way then a questioning look his way, "should I...?" he pointed out the door, his body half in, half out of the room.

"No, stay." Natsume ordered without looking at him. Ruka promptly stepped in the room and closed the door.

Ruka grinned at her, "Remember me?"

Aoi smiled for the first time since they met, nodding. Ruka held out his arms, and Aoi, although a little reluctantly hugged him. At first, she only wrapped her around around him awkwardly, but as soon as he squeezed her tightly, she almost felt like crying at the childhood memories.

When they parted, Ruka looked between the two before stated boldly, "This is the first time you've met in fifteen years, you two can do a lot better than fight about the past."

There was a pause before Natsume pulled Aoi into his arms and they embraced warmly. This time Aoi really did cry. She muttered quietly, "There's so many things I don't understand and I just want to move on but I can't and at the same time I don't want to and sometimes I don't even know who I am anymore - just so many names and pretenses and -"

Natsume pulled away from the embrace, holding her shoulders tightly. The two piercing scarlet eyes locked. He stated firmly, "You're a Hyuuga. Always remember that. Whatever happens, whoever you are next, deep down inside you're still Aoi Hyuuga, Natsume Hyuuga's little sister - _my_ little sister."

There was a knock on the door. The three looked at each other, farewell in their eyes, before Ruka finally broke away to open the door with a polite smile.

But that polite smile froze on his face, and though Natsume kept his impassive face, his fist was clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.

A dark man with a white mask stood, lips lifted on one side in a taunting smirk.

"Rei!" Aoi exclaimed, bounding towards him. "I didn't know you were coming to get me!"

Both federal agents turned to look at her in surprise, Natsume felt almost betrayed. But he snapped to the man with narrowed eyes.

Aoi, sensing the tension, was oblivious to Natsume's deep personal hatred for the man. She told him, "He has that mask but he's really not as bad as he looks, he just never takes the mask off."

"Oh, I bet." Natsume responded bitingly.

Aoi was taken back, unsure of what to think of his hatred. "If we had grown up together, I'd bet you were that really protective older brother!" Aoi laughed half nervously, half sadly, "He's not - I promise, he's just my guardian. He takes good care of me."

"Yes," Persona's smooth voice somehow grated on Natsume's very nerves, and Ruka inwardly shuddered, "I do take very good care of her."

Natsume's teeth clenched, and Ruka was conflicted between glaring at the man or looking in confusion at Aoi.

Persona turned to address Aoi, "go get your stuff."

Aoi looked uncertainly at the men in the room, conflicted and unsure of what's happening.

Natsume stayed stoically resolute, while Ruka gave her a forced, uncertain smile.

Eventually Aoi left reluctantly. There were no goodbyes exchanged.

"You know, I don't mind it so much anymore, the mask has come to be my signature," Persona's smile was as chilling as his voice.

"Go to hell." Natsume hissed.

"Ah, but who else would take care of your _darling, beautiful_ sister?"

Ruka held steadfastly onto Natsume's arm, holding him back. "Don't you dare touch her!"

"Ah, but how would you know? It took you fifteen years to just have five minutes with her," he scoffed, "I'm impressed with her will, waiting for so long. And for what? To argue about how your parents died? And a hug? Aw, so sweet."

"At least my parents left a lasting impression." Natsume growled, referring to Persona's face.

"Scars are nothing," Persona smirked, "they can be easily covered up with lies."

Both men easily understood the double meaning. "What did you brainwash her with?" Ruka was the one who spoke up this time, with equally hardened eyes.

"The same thing I will brainwash something we used to own." He replied smoothly. "I believe her name nowadays is Mikan Sakura?"

This time, Ruka didn't even try to hold back Natsume. Natsume was quick but Personal had always been quicker. A tiny needle shot into Natsume's chest, causing him to fall down with a spasm, as if being electrified.

Ruka looked to Persona with a dropped jaw, his gun raised, but Persona had already held up a tiny gun of his own, shrugging nonchalantly, "Since electrifying is our newest obsession, we couldn't resist making a gun with it. It'll wear off." He then left with one last smirk.

Ruka immediately tended to Natsume the moment he disappeared from sight. He picked out the tiny needle, shocking his fingers a little.

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In the car, Mikan was tensed up, leaning forward, trying to hear what's happening in Tsubasa's ear piece to have made him so annoyed. After a long, long pause, he uttered darkly into the ear piece, "You couldn't resist,_ Rei_, could you?" Tsubasa was angrier by the second, "You used _WHAT_ on him?! That's an experimental device! They still haven't finished - you stole it from the lab didn't you?" There was longer pause, then Tsubasa nearly yelled, "You-" but he was suddenly taken back, then growled, "He just fucking cut me off communications. _Bitch_." In a swift movement, he tore the barely visible ear piece from his ear and threw it out the window for a passing car to run over.

"What happened?" Mikan eagerly asked.

"Nothing." Tsubasa replied moodily. When Mikan frowned, he corrected himself, "I can't tell you."

By the time Tsubasa stopped the car, he had calmed down. He turned around to look at her. Mikan paused, her hand on the handle, knowing he wanted to say something.

He sighed. "Mikan..." he started but was unsure of how to phrase his feelings into words. "You know you're my..." his eyes penetrated hers, "baby sister."

"I know." Mikan understood both meanings. The Alices may be a "cult" or a "gang" as the "good guys" have coined them to be, but they were a family. And in every family there could be the annoying cousin, Luna, or the cool but aloof second cousin - Hayate - or the controlling father or grandfather - but they were a family. In Tsubasa's case, however, he was her actual brother. Yuka, her mother, and Izumi, her father, had always said so. It's kind of a strange feeling, now that Mikan thought about it, because she hasn't had a family for three years.

"Just..." Tsubasa breathed, trying to convey his message nicely, "You can't straddle the fence, you know?"

"I..." Mikan bit her lip, knowing what he was getting at.

"Like today," Tsubasa tapped his fingers on the car seat. "You can't be working for us, but helping them."

"It worked." Mikan responded helplessly.

"Today," he emphasized, "today it did. Today you could find a way to let both sides win, but one day you'll have to choose. And I can't give you advice on that, because you know I'll be biased about that choice."

Mikan fiddled with her shirt. "It's been a month."

"And you'll only stay in that in-between stage for a month." Tsubasa replied quickly, muttering to himself, "Wait 'til you hear the rest of Master's plan."

Though the last part had left her wondering, Mikan didn't want to know. "I'm just...conflicted." She confided. Out of the other Alices, she was (and she had always been) closest to Tsubasa.

"We're your family, Mikan." Tsubasa stated, half laughing incredulously as he said, "you grew up with us."

"Does family torture family?" Mikan asked miserably.

He turned his eyes away, responding quietly, "You know I couldn't do anything about that - I...Master sent me on a mission."

"A month-long mission? Alone?" She asked incredulously. Month long missions were some of the hardest missions. They had always been assigned in pairs.

"No," Tsubasa replied reluctantly, "I was with-" he choked up, "she was...she didn't make it." Tsubasa's eyes unfocused, but he rambled on, "I know it's been three years, I just..." He inhaled sharply then looked up at her with hard eyes. He spoke so quietly, so brokenly, she had to read his lips. "It was a trap. He sent us into a trap."

Mikan clapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes tearing up when she understood his revelation. Misaki was like her older sister, and she remember joking about how Misaki could marry into her little family (Tsubasa as her older brother).

"The way he looked at me when I came back." Tsubasa looked away stoically, eyes glistening with unshed tears, "he was so surprised." He scoffed, "but he said he was proud of me, and we all mourn for her." He continued bitterly, "said she wasn't as good as me, that's why she didn't make it."

Mikan held back her tears, realizing that she wasn't the only one who suffered during that time. Esprit de Corps may have been a mission for the authorities, something for the greater good of people. But for the Alices, it was a declaration of war against their family. And as much as history books try to justify it, nothing is ever fair in war.

Tsubasa blinked, refocusing. He turned back to her, redirecting the conversation, "Mikan - I know this sounds selfish but I want to keep you."

Mikan laughed a little at his choice of words.

"Okay that came out wrong," Tsubasa smiled along with her, but turned serious. "I meant that I don't want to lose another...just tread carefully, okay? You have to choose soon. And honestly, I don't want you to make the right choice." When she gave him a puzzled look, he continued, "I want you to make the choice that will help you survive."

Mikan nodded, wiping at her eyes. And with final goodbyes, she opened the car door and left. She closed the door without looking back, and he drove away as soon as the door closed.

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When Mikan arrived back on their floor, most of the team was crowded around the central table, with the exception of Hotaru, Yuu, and Mochu. Yuu was spotted in his office polishing up the timeline of the missing person, beginning from a month before her disappearance to present day and the car chase of a suspected carrier. Hotaru was in her office with her door open, watching a computer closely.

It was only when Mikan moved closer to the crowd that she saw Mochu, or rather his hands. Most of the team was watching a computer screen, which was filled with a video feed from presumably Mochu's shirt, since it was a view of his hands on the wheel and part of the windshield.

"Man, an FBI agent just goes and investigates they don't do no fucking car chases all over Los Angeles," Mochu's car swiped someone's side mirror, and that someone honked and cussed at him as he sped by, "I'M SORRY DAMN IT I WAS NOT TRAINED FOR THIS."

"How'd he get to LA?" Mikan asked incredulously.

Koko glanced at her briefly, "glad you could finally join us. He flew a jet, cut a 5 hour flight down in half. Mochu's pretty incredible with a plane. Not so much with a car."

"Hey, Mikan, weren't you trained with CIA?" Kitsuneme asked, "Dude, where have you been for the past four hours?"

Mikan scratched the back of her neck, "CIA is more top secret, we're not really into public car chases, more like tracking them and just arriving at the final destination. Saves time and effort. What's going on?"

Anna explained, "we found someone that she's been in contact with only lately and she doesn't seem to be very happy with him so we followed it and found that they were in contact the night of her disappearance. We did face recognition and looked for him around the time of her disappearance and finally found him with an unidentifiable lady which we assume was her and she doesn't seem willing to go with him and we just kind of went and found him and yeah, now Mochu's chasing him."

Koko quietly noted that Mikan didn't answer Kitsuneme's second question.

"Yo, why didn't we think of just tracking him? Dang, we had to go and chase him down and shit..." Kitsuneme asked Koko.

Koko shrugged, "we're not Mikan."

"What's done is done." Anna piped up, "Hotaru's tracking the cars right now, maybe you could tell her and help her with it."

Koko silently watched as Mikan nodded, going to Yuu's office to get Hotaru, then heading to Hotaru's office together. He noted to himself the slight amount of guilt in her eyes when he would hint that they needed her. He told himself he had no right to feel an ounce of betrayal. She only left for a little while, what could she have done? Gone to the dark side? Puh-lease.

With Mikan and Hotaru's directing, Mochu was able to plant a bug in the suspect's car by shooting at the car (and aiming for the seat cushions) with a bugged bullet then feigning having lost the suspect's trail. Thus the pair could track the car with the suspect believing to be alone so that it could reach its real destination, which turned out to be two hours from the outskirts of the city. All this was done while the team was on a jet flown by Kitsuneme on the way to Los Angeles. Once they were there, they took a car and got as close as they could. By the time they go there, the suspect had sped off a trail of dust behind him. With a machine checking for heat signatures, Hotaru stated that it was all cold. The team was ready to give up and go after the suspect. Mikan and Natsume, however, were adamant on checking the abandoned safe house first, just to be sure (it was the only thing they've agreed on for a while).

It was a good thing they did (or not so much) for the moment they walked in the house they saw, in the middle of the floor and in the middle of a puddle of blood, was the dead body of their missing persons.

There was a shocked silence. Natsume cleared his throat, quietly, he spoke, "Yuu, call the local PD."

This snapped Nonoko out of her shock. Professionally, she put on surgical gloves, then crouched beside the body, inspecting it closely. After a moment, Anna followed suit. The rest watched silently as they mutter to each other, poking around the body.

Finally, Nonoko looked up, "She was tortured, then killed."

"She definitely had information." Anna deduced.

Nonoko pointed to various parts of the body, "bruises here, here, all over here. They seem old, I think maybe from when they kidnapped here. Then she was electrocuted, the ends of her body hair are fried a little."

"It seems to be from over time, maybe a little bit every day." Anna contributed.

"The final blow?" Kitsuneme asked.

"Stab wound in her abdomen, it was meant as a last bit of torture, bled to death." Nonoko looked away as she stated emotionlessly.

"Time of death?" Hotaru asked, crouching down to look at the puddle of blood, "looks fresh."

Anna took out a little machine, dipping the tip with blood and choking up as the microscopic particles showed on the screen. In a strained voice she replied, "Less than - less than an hour."

The entire team visibly winced with the heaviness of the message. They could've saved her. If they were just a little faster, they could've gotten there in time.

"Sometimes, we get so caught up on our own problems, we forget there's other lives at stake." Hotaru spoke monotonously. Though she stared straight ahead at the crime scene, Mikan and Natsume heard her message loud and clear. They both knew that somehow, Hotaru knew they weren't focused in the investigation. Mikan and Natsume didn't dare look at each other, or anyone.

Koko picked up the tense mist in the air but decided not to comment on it. He did accidentally - subconsciously - wave at the air as if to clear up fog. Kitsuneme looked at him odd for a second but also said nothing.

Anna tried to ignore the heaviness of her heart. Nonoko, like Anna, tried to focus on just the science, the research, the case.

Mochu muttered to himself, "just five minutes earlier, if I hadn't taken so long to get out of the building, if I took a quicker route, just a little earlier..."

Yuu tried not to show it, but he was worried for the team. He may not be a psychology major like Koko, but he was observant and he too saw the thick fog in the air. But for now, he'll focus on rehearsing how to break the news to the victim's parents in his head.

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_to be continued..._

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I'm not really good at portraying messages, so I just wanted to let you know that the point of this chapter was to 1) show Mikan's struggle with choosing, because it's not just simply choosing the good side or bad side - which leads me to the next, more important point - and 2) show that there is always two sides to a story. Up until now, the Alices is some evil organization that does evil things. But now that Mikan is getting her memory back, she starts to humanize the enemy - if they are even the enemy. And I introduced Tsubasa so you see the grey scale between good and bad. You wouldn't say Tsubasa was bad, right? But since he is on the bad side, does that make him bad...?

Sorry for the incredibly late update. I don't think my updates will pick up pace either since i'll be mostly focusing on my last year of high school and trying to get into college.

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**behind the scenes...**

Persona talks to director in hushed tones as director attends to other business

A camcorder neared them just as persona was saying in his normal voice, "do you think I should go darker, you know more, you know..."

"goth? emo?" The director filled in then directed a tech guy on where to direct the camera once the scene starts, "swoop around and then focus on their faces, yeah, good."

Persona followed closely behind the director, "like Adam Lambert feel."

There was a slight giggled close to the camera, "persona, Adam Lambert was gay and sang upbeat love songs. Are you gonna serenade Natsume?"

Persona turned to the camcorder abruptly in surprise then tried to shove it away, "what the heck, go away, Mikan."

The camcorder slowly backed away as the director replied, "look um, mr. serio, right? I think you should talk to the scriptwriter about this."

"you are the scriptwriter." Persona stated.

The director inhaled deeply, grimacing, "right."

**Lights camera action!**

The director rubbed her forehead, then looked exasperatedly at the scene in front of her, "Ok, Tsubasa, you can't stare out that window, you're driving!"

"What am I supposed to stare at then?!"

"The windshield, the road," the director's arms flailed wildly about the green screen, "because you're driving!"

A snarky female voice spoke up, "I could've done that."

A few heads turned to the source of the voice, especially the director's. "Luna what are you doing here? You're not even in this episode. I told you to take the next few days off."

"She doesn't have friends" Mikan snickered.

"I have friends!" Luna gestured to Persona.

The director sighed, "Persona, your scene is over, you both can and are quite welcome to leave."

Their faces scrunched up in hurt and look as if about to cry.

The director rubbed a hand down her face, "please don't...ugh, just...fine you can stay."

The two grinned, while there was a collective groan from the rest of the cast and crew.

**Lights, Camera, Action!**

The camera closed in on the body.

Director: "Okay can we pan around, head to toe kind of deal..."

Then wild laughter was heard. Luna and persona were falling all over themselves laughing. Persona breathed out; "she's dead."

Luna snickered, "you guys suck!"

"Alright!" the director threw her hands up, "That's it! Eddie, escort them out!"

**Lights, Camera, Action!**

"...deep dark dungeons and just so dark and gloomy..."

"what are we talking about?" Ruka mouthed to Natsume, who shrugged and gave him a creeped out look.

"ok, look, persona," the director strode in the scene, "just-just stick to the script, ok?"

"I wanted to give my character more depth, you know."

"I think you went too deep." Tsubasa snickered.

The set laughed and persona glared.

the director ignored the cast, "we'll, um, we'll work in that later, ok, just stick to the script." She had walked off the stage but her voice could still be heard, "why are we still rolling? Did I say cut- CUT!"


	10. 8

Why Natsume put up with her, he didn't know.

Especially why he's putting up with her right now.

It's a free country, it's a free roof. She can get off the roof but if she doesn't want to he can get off the roof. Oddly, he doesn't want to either.

"You were in love with the woman and you think you like me because I'm some kind of resemblance or memory of her but I'm really not her-" Mikan realized she was babbling but the way Natsume so intensely gazed at her it was hard not to. "I-I-what are you-"

Natsume kissed her. He did. He wouldn't actually call it a kiss. He barely - only even slightly - brushed his lips against hers. It was just the initial touch and maybe the proximity that got her to shut up.

Mikan gave him the most astonished look and he only replied with "stop making up excuses."

"Am I?" She asked with a hint of uncertainty, but then looked up at him innocently, "or are you?"

Mikan began to stand up - about to walk away.

"You think I loved her." Natsume started. She stopped, turning back to look at him curiously. He looked straight ahead however, his mind somewhere else. "I thought so. Because it was so different from anything else." Mikan slowly sat down beside him, and Natsume turned to look her in the eye, "I've figured it out."

With furrowed eyebrows, Mikan nodded.

"I was entranced by her." Natsume let his eyes wander to the sky. "There's a lot of women who are beautiful, others who are sassy with a unique taste. There are a select few who can fight me and still escape. She was everything in one woman." He turned to her, "I told you about her, remember? But then I thought about it. Was everything I knew about her real? Every word we exchanged was thoughtfully, craftily picked, every we did was an act. I was attracted to her, but none of it was real. None of it was genuine. I knew from the very beginning that she was a great actress. I fell for it anyway."

"Maybe she fell for it too." Mikan spoke softly. "Maybe she believed her own act too."

"Then it's a good thing she got a fresh start." Natsume replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

"This time, you got to know the real her." Mikan watched closely as he leaned in slowly this time. "Still attracted?"

He smirked, "You tell me." then he caught her lips and slowly, tenderly, worked his magic. Mikan, on the other hand, responded just as sweetly.

When they broke apart, Mikan blinked slowly, looking up at him. Natsume reached for her cheek, planning to kiss her again. She backed away however. Stumbling over her words, she breathed out, "I-I don't know."

Then, Natsume saw it in her eyes. "Why are you afraid?"

"I-" She wanted to tell him something, Natsume could feel it. It was important. But defeat came over her and she said, "Aren't you?"

He didn't reply for a while, squinting at something in the distance. Then he turned to her, "No." Her wide confused eyes stared back at his confident ones. "It takes a leap of faith, Mikan." He told her, almost disappointedly, before standing up and leaving first.

When he had already left, Mikan sighed, looking at the door, "It's not that I don't trust you, Natsume, it's that I don't trust myself."

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**The A Team**

_Aspirator_

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A hand slammed on Mikan's desk - well technically, it was her and Natsume's - causing her to jump and look up.

The whole team (except for oblivious Mikan) had seen him coming of course, but they all watched from a distance. He was not a man to be trifled with.

Well, except for Hotaru, who kept a distance a little shorter than everyone else, only a few steps behind him.

Mikan breathed in deeply, her eyes showing confusion and slight intimidation. Before she could get a word in however, the man in front of her leaned in with dark, angry eyes, "I told Narumi I'll eventually find out."

Next to Mikan, Natsume had stood up from his chair, taking a defensive stance. However, he said nothing, staying back, just like Hotaru, watching closely.

Instead of looking guilty or like a deer caught in headlights, Mikan peered at him curiously. "You know who I am, I guess, so who are you?"

"Jinno." Kitsuneme piped in, then felt almost sheepish when all eyes turned to him. He pointed to the man then scratched the back of his head, "that's, um, that's Mr. Jinno."

"He's a Senior Agent," Koko added, "He trains our Police Academy. He's strict and scary."

Jinno turned to look at him and Koko shrunk in his seat.

Mikan's face changed into a less baffled expression, her mouth forming an O. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Jinno, I guess."

Jinno ignored her, looking around the room and at the team members who peered curiously at him. "It's a good thing you are all listening because there's something about Mikan you should all know."

"I think we should-" Mikan started, having a slight sense of an idea where this was going. Along with a slight sense of panic.

Jinno turned to her, "shut up." Mikan sat back, looking incredibly offended, mouthing, _excuse you._

"You lovely team member Mikan here is a double agent." Jinno stated confidently, but to his chagrin, he was met with blank faces. Two of which were mixed with caution (those two were Natsume and Hotaru, of course.)

"Ah hah hahaha ha..." Mikan laughed awkward, gesturing to Jinno, "he's a funny one." Now she definitely knew what this was about.

The blank faces turned into half smiles and confusion.

"I'm serious." Jinno gritted out. He turned back to Mikan, "I know who you've been working for. You even got them to help you out on your cases, you sneaky -"

"There's no need for that kind of animosity within the agency, Jinno." Narumi's voice came. He strode in purposefully with that smile of his, as always. "What's this I hear about you spreading rumors?"

"They're. not. rumours." Jinno growled, emphasizing each word. He turned to glare at Narumi, then at the rest of the audience. "Why does nobody believe me? Fine, you want some proof? I'll show you proof!"

He opened the manila file folder he had on him - nobody really noticed until now - and took out picture after picture.

They were pictures of Luna - not actually of her face but of her hooded get up. There were six incriminating pictures..

Mikan had withheld her gasp, but her look of shock and disbelief was obvious. How could Jinno have gotten pictures of the Alices at work and their interactions?

One - the first time Mikan met Luna (Chapter two). The shot was of their standstill near the end when they were talking.

"First day of work and already double crossing us." Jinno snarled.

This time, Mikan stood up too, "That was my first time meeting her!"

"Sure wasn't your last."

Two - it was a picture of a sniper in a bush just outside the police station, right when a man walked out and looked straight at the sniper. (Chapter four)

"Your culprit," Jinno commented about the picture, "was never that good of a shot. I thought it was weird how you completely overlooked the fact that Eli Rodigue couldn't shoot a target over 100 meters away. Nobody else thought it was weird? Huh, I thought you guys were the best."

Nonoko and Yuu exchanged looks. It really wasn't Mikan's fault, they thought. "We-we knew who killed him." Yuu spoke up.

"And you never bothered to investigate deeper and find out?" Jinno glanced condescendingly at him, "What are you getting paid for?"

Yuu visibly shrunk back into himself, and if he had allowed his vocal chords to work, he would've whimpered.

"Look, man," Mochu spoke up, suddenly feeling protective of his teammate, "we tried. He or she was probably hired by Eli Rodigue anyway, you know how hard it is to find hired guns 'round here."

"Hired guns." Jinno repeated dubiously.

Three - Action shot of the same hooded figure with a few accomplices knocking out and killing off part of a cult-terrorist organization that Shouda was tracking. (Chapter five)

"Before we even got to go arrest them all," Jinno growled at this, "You had them all knocked out."

"How am I even connected to this," Mikan sat back with crossed arms, "seriously? It could be a fellow cult-terrorist hit to get them to shut up."

"Oh you have the answers to everything don't you?" Jinno sneered.

Four - This time it was both Natsume and Mikan talking to Luna. (Chapter six)

"What," Anna frowned, "so you accuse Mikan in this picture but not Natsume? I'll say you're a little biased."

"They _both_," Jinno looked at Anna pointedly, "just let her walk away."

"What were we gonna hold her on? Talking?" Mikan argued.

"She was standing next to an unconscious body!"

"There was no evidence! She could've accidentally ran into the wall and the lady must've been in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"Surprise, surprise," Jinno shot back, "you're defending her."

"I'm defending myself." Mikan dissented angrily.

Five - Luna and Mikan working together to fight 30 men coming at them with a gun. It was an action shot of them standing back to back, fighting off men at opposite sides of the circle. It was a black and white picture however with red boxes around both Mikan and Luna. (Chapter seven).

"How did you get that?," Kitsuneme commented open-mouthed, "Even Hotaru could only use heat sensors to see inside the building."

"If they can make their own guns and bombs, then they can make their own sniper rifle. One that resourcefully takes a picture of their targets before they shoot." Jinno stared Mikan down triumphantly, "Coincidentally the sniper was killed before he could pull the trigger. What can you say about this now, huh?"

Mikan was having a little bit of a hard time defending that herself...I guess she never told the team what happened in there. "I-She-but she attacked me afterwards!" Mikan pointed to her elbow, "with a needle!"

"Oh please," Jinno rolled his eyes, "That was all an act. If it wasn't for her, you wouldn't have made it out alive. And you were injected with steroids not poison."

Six - A kind of blurry shot of five hooded figures walking down an alleyway. It was just at the right angle to make out Mikan's face under the hood of the person in the middle. (Chapter 8)

"Oh look, you're meeting your little friends." Jinno commented cheerfully, "and you made it look like a kidnapping? How clever."

"I was - They had an electric vest on me!" Mikan exclaimed in outrage. "And guns!"

Jinno crossed his arms, scoffing at her. "So what are you going to do when you catch the killer this time, Sakura?" Jinno taunted, "tell your friends to tie up the loose ends?"

"I didn't hire them." Mikan bit out, "I don't know why they're - whoever they are - doing this. I - we've seen these reports and we've tried to investigate but obviously we've met dead ends."

"Yes, you're right." Jinno stated calmly, "because you're the double agent covering their asses."

"Jinno," Narumi spoke up again, "If you so strongly think she's a double agent, why didn't you go to Mr. Yukihira first?"

"How do you know I haven't?" Jinno challenged.

"I just got off the phone with him." Narumi sighed, almost wearily, "the only problem he had with you was that your half-assing the job you're getting paid for - which is running the academy."

"I'm not half-assing anything," Jinno snapped, then narrowed his eyes at him, "I know what you're doing Narumi. I won't be distracted. You are in trouble too. You helped bring in a double agent."

"That evidence is substantial!" Narumi argued back, "and you know it. You said so yourself, they've got answers to everything. You're gonna need more proof than that."

"Then I will get them." Jinno spoke confidently, he narrowed his eyes at Mikan, "I'll be back." He then swept out of the floor as suddenly as he came in.

"I'm not a double agent." Mikan stated for the umpteenth time in the span of a half hour. She looked around at her teammates, her eyes finally landing on Natsume's intense stare, "I'm not." She looked bewildered, looking around again at the silence in the air. "You guys can't possibly think - you guys don't-"

"No, no, of course not, Mikan." Koko smiled reassuringly, "that 'proof' he had was bullshit."

Narumi sighed, checking his watch. He then looked up to expectant faces. "You know you got a case to work." He began to walk away, but not before announcing, "Mikan, come with me."

They all exchanged looks.

"Dude," Koko walked up next to Mochu, "you ever seen Narumi serious?"

"Nah..." Mochu stared after him, "Now I have."

"Get to work, people." Natsume ordered, but he himself was watching as the elevator doors closed on Narumi and Mikan.

There was a long period of collective silence as the team worked.

Kitsuneme walked into Yuu's office. "Yo, I think I got something." He handed a piece of paper to Yuu, "Remember when you talked to people in the studio and we got a list of our vic's friends? Well I've been checking them out and one of them is this make-up artist she met in some other movie - anyway, he's been buying up some sketchy chemicals, now you don't need that stuff on people's faces. Poly-plasti-shit? Now that sounds nasty."

"Alright, but shouldn't you ask Anna or Nonoko about those chemicals?" Yuu asked.

"Oh, Mochu's got that. I just came in to update you and also ask about what you think of that guy? Criminal profile and shit whatever."

"But that's Koko-"

"Man you just don't wanna work do you?" Kitsuneme clicked his tongue at the sheepish guy.

"No, no, I'm just - they're better-" Yuu waved his arms in front of him anxiously.

"I'm kidding," Kitsuneme patted his back, "Don't cry on me. Anyway, Koko's working on vic's boyfriend. Some _real_ sketchy dude. I just thought you might check this one out while he's doing that, you know?"

Mochu barged in, "Bro! Those chemicals you highlighted from that dude's shopping list? It makes this like face mask things like in one of those double-o-seven movies!"

"You mean like the mission impossible movie?"

"Yeah!" Mochu agreed wholeheartedly, "look at that, Yuu! You got some creepy ass dude tryin' to be somebody else. Does his profile scream out criminal or no?"

Yuu, all the while, looked at the profile, frowning with thought.

"He's a make-up artist." Kitsuneme mouthed to Mochu dubiously.

After a moment, he shook his head. "He's vain, temperamental. He's good at what he does, very detailed oriented. Not rich. He could be financially motivated."

"Alright!" Mochu and Kitsuneme patted each other, "let's get this guy!"

"Wait." Yuu shook his head, "we don't have enough. Let's conference."

.

.

.

Narumi and Mikan had sat across each other in Narumi's office. They had a long conversation but Mikan knew Narumi wanted something from her. But she wanted to know what he knew before getting to the point.

But when he did...

"The Alices files. I want them. I put them there but it'd be suspicious if I go get them again."

"Why?" Mikan responded evenly, "it'd be more suspicious if _I_ get them, considering I'm being accused of being a double agent."

"You're the only other person who knows where they are." He responded but Mikan noticed his left hand subtly tapping on the desk nervously. "This is your assignment, Mikan."

"What if I don't do it?" Mikan asked impertinently.

"How about I clear your name?"

"Are you bribing me?" Mikan returned in astonishment.

"So what if I am?" Narumi replied as easily.

They stared at each other for a second. Then Mikan spoke up, a wry smile on her face, "So where's Narumi?"

Narumi furrowed his eyebrows, "I'm right here."

"Narumi never stops smiling." Mikan started, sitting back with her arms crossed, "You haven't stopped shifting your eyes, looking for friends - probably under that curtain there, or in those big file cabinets. You tap your finger when you're nervous."

"I had a long day." Narumi responded, but the tapping turned into a clenched fist. "I was attacked this morning and I'm feeling very paranoid."

"Your right hand has been under the desk for this entire conversation, probably holding a gun." Mikan was not fooled. "You're wearing contacts, your hair was bleached. Good work on your face though. Did you get plastic surgery just for this little stunt? Oh, and Narumi would never bribe."

Narumi's face morphed to a dark frown. His right hand came up holding a gun with a silencer pointing right at her. "You're right," he smiled finally, but his smile was dark, "and no I didn't get plastic surgery. I have a friend who's good with faces." He raised his left hand to his chin, and find the right spot, peeled off a face mask.

Mikan nodded, as if a gun is not being pointed to her face, "it _is _good." she turned back up to the new, unfamiliar face, "So who are you and why would the Alices hire someone so sloppy?"

He had thin cheekbones, and sharp nose and thick, black, eyebrows. He gritted his teeth. "I'm not sloppy. I am Hernando Perez." He jutted out his chin as if he was proud to have such a name. His voice was deeper and had a hispanic accent to it. "I'm an actor."

Mikan nodded, "see? You just gave your name. That's sloppy."

"I have been in many roles as a bad guy shooting people." He growled at her. He grabbed hold of top of the gun with his left hand and released the safety cap. "I have no problem doing it in real life."

.

.

.

"Okay. Jack Dellomo, vic's friend." Natsume stated, his arms crossed, pacing around the conference table as everyone gathered. "Ephemelda, our vic. Vic's boyfriend, Hernando Perez. Vic's other friend, Jacey Moore. They all take leave at the same time, in different ways. Obviously, the costume designer probably left unwillingly, and that's why she was kidnapped. Everyone else took leave, or vacation, or called in sick." He stopped at the head of the table, then looked around, "What does a make-up artist with a face mask, a costume designer, a vocal trainer, and an actor make?"

"A film?" Mochu shrugged helplessly.

"No." Koko popped up like a lightbulb switched on in his head, "a really good impersonation."

"So who are they trying to impersonate and why did they kill one of their members?"

There was silence.

Anna looked around, "where's Mikan?"

Hotaru frowned, she was curious what Narumi needed to talk about with Mikan for so long anyway. She decided to directly pull it up on the computer connected to the projector. Half a minute later she had a security footage of Narumi's office.

Mikan was sitting calmly in the chair in front of Narumi's desk. The face mask sat on the desk along with Mikan's ear piece and cellphone. Hernando Perez with blond hair and blue eyes sat in front of her pointing a gun in her face. Four men dressed in all black stood in a semi-circle behind her, all with guns pointed at their target. Then as if sensing that they were being watched, one of the four men pointed his gun straight at the camera and shot. The screen blackened.

"Looks like we found our impersonation."

"I knew it was weird Narumi was so serious and argumentative!" Koko stood up, punching the air.

"You got a camera in Narumi's office?" Mochu asked incredulously, "girl, you got trust issues."

"Boy, we got a Mikan issue," Anna snapped back as they all head quickly to the elevator, grabbing their guns.

"So Mikan's probably got Perez." Kitsuneme planned out, "There's four henchmen and eight of us. I say we barge in, knock 'em down so when they wake up later we can interrogate them."

But Natsume exchanged looks with Hotaru. "Yes," he agreed, "but it won't be that easy to knock them unconscious."

"You know them?" Koko asked with a wrinkled forehead.

"I recognize them." Natsume responded vaguely, "They don't mess around. Here's what we're gonna do..."

When the elevator dinged, the team marched out in pairs. Natsume was last, because as they barged into Narumi's office, Natsume pulled back to grab a stray FBI agent on the floor. "Hey you," He grabbed the collar of a stray FBI agent, "call in a Code 68B1 -"

"That's an intrusion, sir-" The agent identified in astonishment.

"Yeah, yeah," Natsume agreed impatiently, letting go the man and getting ready to go. He paused, "Oh, and have EMS on standby."

He walked away just as the FBI agent ran to a nearby phone, pressing a few buttons and yelling into the receiver, "We got a code 68B1! I repeat, code 68B1! Have the whole building on lockdown - nobody gets in or out! Have EMS on standby. Senior Agent Narumi has been compromised, I repeat, Senior Agent Narumi has been compromised."

Suddenly Natsume ran back, stealing the phone from the man, "the situation is under control, standby for status." Then he marched ahead to catch up with the group.

The moment the A team barged in, the four men's attention have been diverted to the door. In that fleeting moment, Mikan quickly snatched the gun from Perez, flipping it around to point it at him. Since Perez was just an actor, she had no problem clobbering him over the head with the stolen gun, knocking him unconscious.

As Natsume had predicted, Mikan was up and about in no time, joining others in fighting the four men. Natsume had already ordered Yuu to come in after her, tie up Perez's body, and pull him aside. He was to watch him, because as Natsume had said, the four men would try to kill Perez, as to prevent him from spilling any beans later on.

The moment the doors opened, Mochu, being front of the line had yelled, "Drop your weapons! We're - well, you know who we are." as per procedure. While everyone else stood around pointing guns at each other, Koko immediately slid across the floor knocking two men down. They were distracted long enough for the rest to charge forward and engage them in hand to hand combat.

Of course, as Natsume had designated, they had already picked which man they want to fight. He wanted well-rounded teams, a male and a female, if possible. Nonoko and Koko went straight for the man on their farthest right. Anna and Kitsuneme went for the man on their farthest left. Hotaru and Natsume, both strong fighters, were to get the man on the middle left and knock him out quickly so as to be able to help the others. Mochu would fight the man on the middle right by himself - but only for a few minutes since Mikan will be joining him shortly.

It's a good thing Hotaru and Natsume picked the man on the middle left for he turned out to be the best of them all. There was no comparison.

While Mochu had his man occupied, Mikan jumped in from behind, attempting to strangle him unconscious. Unfortunately, he knew his wrestling moves and had her

Natsume walked out the door and looking at the anxious faces announced authoritatively, "Suspects have been captured. Agent Narumi is nowhere to be found. Get EMS up here NOW."

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.

.

Hushed voices. Though they were in another room, on the other side of the observation glass, they still kept their voices low. "He had no fingerprints - like his fingers have singed off - they're completely smooth, it's incredible. He has no ID whatsoever. Facial recognition has no match. There's nothing distinguishing him but this mark on his ankle. It was like a star with an A inside."

Jinno frowned deeply, muttering to himself, "The Alices, dammit." He looked around at the other agents, "anything else about the other captives?"

Just then, Yuu walked in. Shyly, he spoke when Jinno trained his electric blue eyes on him. "They're all hi-hired guns, s-sir. The three of the them."

"There's another one, the impersonator." Jinno replied sharply.

"Mi-Mikan's talking to him. He-he's not dangerous. He's an a-actor."

The five men had been put in different interrogation room. The hit men just handcuffed though they could move their linked hands freely. The Alice handcuffed to the table. The actor sat freely in his room.

Hotaru, Koko, and Agent Misaki had been with the three hitmen for hours. They knew nothing. They didn't know each other. True to their claim, the agents found no connections. They got their instructions from the same burn phone at different times. They got their first installment of their money from the same spot, also different times. And the only indication of any individual that was behind such thing was a single card. It was completely blank but a single symbol in the middle. A star with an A inside.

Mikan sat in front of Hernando Perez. She stared him down coldly. It was the same story. They were hired, same burn phone, same thing with the money, and the same signature card.

"Hernando." She stated softly, sweetly. "tell me what happened to your girlfriend."

He blinked hard, "Look I didn't - it wasn't me, okay? I don't think it was any of us."

"What wasn't you?"

"I-I-" he panicked, sweating profusely, "I-we all arrived to our, you know, where we were supposed to set up - at the same time, you know, and we got there and there she was -" he looked down, his eyes starting to water, his face in his hands, "she was so...she was..." He looked up at her. "You know she had always dreamed of doing tv shows? She says it's much funner, she gets to meet people and stay with them for a long time. She didn't want to do this, but, well, they said they'd been watching her parents and - she wasn't allowed to talk to them. Ephemelda, she, she was opposed from the start, she did it anyway. She did her job, I just - I don't know she...she was unlucky. I guess." He was full out sobbing now, "Why her? You know? She did what she had to really quickly, she said she wanted to go back to that Lifetime movie, she really liked it."

"You found her." Mikan stated, no emotion or sympathy betraying her, "you all just found her, lying there, dead, in your make-shift studio?"

"I don't know, okay?" Hernando was frustrated, she could tell, and telling the truth. "Maybe she and our contractor had a disagreement! She was the first to be contacted, she was the one who brought this team together. Maybe it was a warning or something, to make us, to get us -our head in the game, I don't know!"

"Did you get your assignments together?"

"No, no, whoever it was had our numbers and we would just know our part, you know? And you'd only figure out what Jack or Jacey had to do if it had to do you with me, you know? Obviously, I was the main character and I got paid more, but-"

"So, let me get this straight," Mikan started dubiously, "Some random person called you and started whipping out instructions and you and your friends got together, obeying them like it's Simon says. You were ready to commit a crime against the United State Federal Bureau of Investigation because of a phone call."

"It was four million!" Hernando exclaimed, "and-and Ephemelda- we didn't want to end up like her."

"Where's Narumi?" Mikan glared, leaning in to intimidate the man. "If you say I don't know one more time..."

"I-I-hey-look, I got my instructions, okay? I only come in when they've got it all taken care of. I - I know my side of what I need to do - no questions asked."

Mikan frowned. She stood up, leaving the room, undeterred by his many protests and questions about his fate.

"What about me? Do I go to jail? Or what? Can I get a deal? Maybe we can hash this out in court, right?" He asked eagerly.

Mikan stopped at the door. Turning slightly to glance at him, she said, "You pointed a gun and threatened a federal agent. What do you think?"

With that and his defeated slump, she walked out.

Kitsuneme and Mochu, grabbing a few FBI agents, had quickly gone to arrest Ephemelda's friends, the make up artist and the vocal trainer. Like Hernando, they didn't know much about their boss for the job.

None of the hitmen knew where Narumi was either. They figured the fourth guy took care of it.

The man with the tattoo like the symbol in the cards everyone else got was their best bet for the boss of the operation.

Of course, he had clamped his mouth shut.

Until Natsume walked in.

He looked up with his dark, dark eyes. He had very well tamed short black hair. His attired was completely black and athletic material. A smile formed on his lips. "Long time no see."

Natsume settled down across from him. "How did three years of retirement treat you?" he played along, "Knocked out in ten minutes. Now that you're back, I see you've lost your touch."

The man laughed loudly, humorously. Natsume waited patiently, a slight frown barely noticeable on his face.

When the man finally stopped, he wiped tears of laughter from his eyes with his shoulder, since he couldn't move his hands much. "Retirement." He chuckled, "Now that I'm back? So you think you got us, huh? Please, the Alices never retired. We were just hiding, plotting our revenge, Black Cat - or should I say, Natsume Hyuuga? We knew all about you from the moment you stepped in that ballroom three years ago. We know everything about everyone." He looked behind Natsume at the observation glass, "

Natsume was not to be scared by this wayward tactic. "We knocked out your operations, froze all your assets, captured your imports and exports, seized billions of dollars, arrested a hundred and fifty two people working for the Alices. We shut you down."

"You only helped us restart. Master was planning our comeback the moment you flew into London." He lifted his chin proudly.

Though it was good news he was revealing so much, Hotaru was getting worried, and annoyed. So they sent one of their worst Alices to them. She knew how they worked. She's seen when they've talked too much, they were blown to pieces from the inside. She didn't how they could find out, but they did and they will.

She barged in.

"Ah, Agent Imai, how nice of you to join us." the man grinned at her.

"It doesn't matter." She growled at him, "where is Narumi? Why do you want him? Why do you want the Alice files? Those are useless to you now."

"Are they?" He replied mysteriously, a Cheshire grin still on his face.

Hotaru slammed her hand on his desk, each time for each word for emphasis, "Where. Is. Narumi?"

He didn't flinch. "You think you've been watching everyone else when we've been watching you. Like we've been watching that friend of yours. The pretty brunette."

Both Natsume and Hotaru clenched their jaws. In less than a minute Jinno had barged in, holding a photo of Mikan. He waved it in front of the man anxiously, "you know her?"

"Yes," he smiled, and a triumphant light came into Jinno's eyes. "She's the one who gave me the cracked rib, twisted arm, scar on my face, and that bump on my head. Feisty one, isn't she?"

Jinno sighed angrily, clenching the photo tightly, "Not today, dammit. Before?"

He shrugged, "I would've memorized that pretty face anywhere." He leaned back smugly, "If I had seen her before, then I probably would've had a little talk, maybe something more with her, y'know?" He winked.

All of the sudden, Natsume was out of his chair, lunging at him. Of course he had missed his face since the man dodged, but he couldn't move far enough since he was chained to the table. Natsume caught his throat instead. The other two agents in the room stood back, just watching.

"What are the Alices planning?" Natsume growled at him.

"Something big." The man gasped out, smirkingly, "something that will shake your-"

Unfortunately he could not finish because in a second he was in pieces. He had exploded, throwing Natsume through the air and hard against the wall. Hotaru and Jinno, though already against the wall, felt the impact of the explosion...and some pieces of the man's body.

Ears ringing, Hotaru and Jinno had found themselves sliding to the floor weakly, wiping pieces of skin, teeth, and hair from themselves in annoyance.

Natsume on the other hand was down to ground. He had rolled to his back with a groan, his ears also ringing. Fortunately, Natsume had held a forearm to cover his face reflexively so most of his arm felt the impact. Blinking heavily, his dry eyes caught a piece of eyeball on his tie. He brushed it away disgustedly.

Soon enough, forensics rushed in, setting up the room like a crime scene. EMS personnel came in with them, picking up the fallen agents and bringing them out to tend to them immediately.

They were fine. They'll just be having some back pains and hard of hearing for the next few hours.

.

.

.

Meanwhile, Anna and Nonoko were inspecting Narumi's office closely like forensic specialists. Looking for any clues, hidden closets, extra storage spaces, anything.

Kitsuneme, who was sitting with Koko on the A floor using his own laptop to review Hotaru's security footage, shook his head sadly. He spoke into the earpiece, "I can't tell if the one who walked in this morning is real or not. He left, the four henchmen came in, he came back in with Mikan, the mess started." He frowned deeply, "Suppose that Narumi never made it to work. So there's the stretch of time from his home to the way to work."

Anna and Nonoko looked at eachother, grinning. They spoke quickly, "We call on the road."

Koko sighed, "_fine._ We'll go visit Narumi's house." He looked at Kitsuneme and they both belched.

Koko and Kitsuneme, feeling so incredibly wrong for breaking into their boss' house, found it all clear with no signs of struggle. When they left, they tried to forget the creepy garden gnome on the back porch of Narumi's cheerful little condo.

Anna and Nonoko, on the other hand, had Hotaru's grouchy help - apparently, she didn't like being communicated to by writing on pieces of paper. It made her feel like she was back in middle school. They tracked all kinds of ways from Narumi's home to work, feeding face recognition through street cameras at those routes. They finally were able to track him to a certain one, but lost him at the subway.

After three hours and fifty two agents running around the immense compound at Grand Central Station, they found a bound and tied Narumi in a janitor's closet cheerfully humming an odd tune. His only complaint was that he was incredibly thirsty and hungry and would very much like a massage.

Of course, Jinno, Hotaru, and Natsume told him to get in line.

Once he was back in the FBI building, he was briefed on what happened today. When he heard that they wanted the Alices files, he quickly raced to the morgue to check if they're still there. Of course he wasn't by himself, with Hotaru turning off the camera momentarily and Natsume calling out the keeper of the morgue to somewhere else.

Narumi came back with empty hands and a disappointed smile.

"All of that was a distraction from the burglary that's taking place." Hotaru scowled when it finally dawned on them what had happened.

The burglary itself would be a case for another day - unofficial since the stolen item wasn't even supposed to exist - but they already knew it was going to lead to a cold case.

.

.

.

By the end of the day, they had considered it case closed...mostly. As long as they got their Senior Agent back and caught...most of the culprits. Well, one was blown to bits so there wasn't much to do about that.

While the most of the A team had gone to their apartments, one of them stayed back.

Mikan had the privilege that not many FBI agents had. She met the director of FBI. Quite a unique experience.

"Now," Yukihira looked straight at Jinno, "what's this I hear about a traitor in our midst?"

"If I may, sir-" Mikan spoke up quickly to defend herself.

"I'm afraid you may not, right now, Agent Sakura." Yukihira cut off, the kind smile on his hardened only slightly in sternness. He turned back to Jinno, "I'd like to hear from the man with the evidence." He tapped his desk which had the pile of pictures Jinno had used to incriminate Mikan.

There was a tense silence as Mikan glanced nervously at Jinno.

"I apologize, Mr. Yukihira." Jinno finally spoke. "I made assumptions and jumped to conclusions."

Mikan's jaw dropped as she looked at Jinno, who only looked stoically at Mr. Yukihira.

"Well," Yukihira sat back, "And what happened for you to have this change of heart?"

"I investigated deeper only to find that in each situation," he nodded to the incriminating photographs, "she had either no connections to or was really being threatened by this criminal organization."

"If you don't mind me asking," the director of FBI leaned forward, "How is it that you became so suspicious of Agent Sakura, here?"

"I was first put off by the fact that she came out of - basically - nowhere with hardly any real explanation and without any training, she was put in the field. She was also exemplar at what she does." Jinno spoke hesitantly, "I found it interesting but when I tried to look up her files, sir, it was classified. For me, a senior agent, it was even more intriguing."

Yukihira nodded thoughtfully, "Agent Jinno," he paused, as if considering to say something, but settled with, "thank you, you're dismissed."

Jinno glanced at Mikan, but got up and left stoically.

Yukihira turned serious as soon as he heard his heavy mahogany door close with a click.

"As you have heard, I'm the only one allowed to look at your file, Agent Sakura. I have also given Agent Narumi rare clearance on the fact that he was in charge of you." Yukihira started. He paused then treaded carefully. "I think you and I both know you regained your memory."

Mikan looked down, unable to form a reply.

"Remember when Narumi found you?" Yukihira started. When Mikan nodded, he continued, "Do you know why you contacted me three years ago when you tried to run away? That was a little over six hours before Narumi found you." He paused, adding, "we actually wouldn't have if you hadn't contacted me."

"My parents," Mikan swallowed heavily, "before they died, they had, they told me to..." she looked up fiercely, "who are you?"

"I'm your uncle, Mikan." He spoke softly.

Mikan's jaw dropped, "all this time..."

Kazumi Yukihira looked like he wanted to say something, but closed his mouth.

Mikan struggled to form words, "You- I - We're - but you're - the FBI director - and we - my parents - how?"

Kazumi sat up, leaning his arms on his desk. "There's a lot of things you don't know about the Alices."

"And there's a lot of things I don't know about you." Mikan retorted quickly.

"Please," Kazumi reasoned with her hard eyes, "just...let me explain."

Mikan remained silent, giving him the green light.

"We all grew up together. Me, my brother, your mother...and another family." Kazumi eyes clouded over in reminiscence. "We had it all planned out. We joined the police academy together, we graduated together, we got recruited to the FBI together."

MIkan sat up attentively, "my parents were in the FBI?"

Kazumi nodded sadly, "the Alices...they're so good because they steal from the FBI, or the CIA, or the Russian secret service, the czech, wherever. They steal from them, and they brainwash them. They knew that to enlist in such a service means the subject must be loyal. So they reverse the loyalty, and they make them loyal to the Alices."

"But what about you?"

"They like to steal people with family, or an attachment." he continued, "So when they get caught, they knew the family would have no choice but to break them out. It was genius, to say the least. They were already trained, they were loyal, they had insurance."

Mikan looked down in a mix of emotions, swallowing the information.

"Our family wasn't the only ones to be taken. The head of MIA in London, Fujitaka Kinomoto?"

Mikan recognized the last name, "Is that - Sakura Kinomoto's father?"

"At first it was his wife, and my brother and _his_ wife...Then it was their children. We knew the Alices were after us the moment my brother's apartment was broken into. It was a stroke of luck, we thought, because their wives gave birth before they had taken them. We took care of you two."

"Me and Sakura..." Mikan couldn't quite recall her earlier days. It was just another whirlwind of hands.

"You two were the first to be taken as babies. I guess they intended to train you two. As an experiment." Kazumi paused to gauge her reaction.

"What happened to Sakura?" Mikan asked curiously, but when her eyes met his, she knew the answer before he even spoke.

"I hope you remember, Mikan," He looked at her helplessly, "or if you really don't know, then only _he _knows, I suppose." They both knew the "he" that Yukihira was referring to was the "master".

Mikan swallowed, trying to remember. The furthest she could recall was growing up with her Alice family, training with them, learning with them.

.

.

.

Mikan was tired, but her meeting with her uncle was not the last of that day.

"So how did the test go?"

Mikan was back in another dark room for another stiff meeting with the Alices.

"The test?" Gears turned quickly in her mind. "Jinno?"

"You think we're careless enough to let people takes pictures of us? Please."

"You manipulated him into almost compromising me?"

"It's kind of like a trust fall. You gotta fall first."

"But a trust fall is gaining my trust not theirs."

"I said 'kind of'."

Mikan felt so disgusted with herself. She moved to leave, almost forgetting her 'manners'. She barely took two steps before catching the eyes of Tsubasa and his slight head movement. She took a deep breath, clearing her throat, "Anything else, master?"

"Not yet."

"May I be dismissed?"

"Yes, my dear."

Once she was gone, the master dismissed the rest of the elite group. Persona stepped up to the master, "How do you know she's not two-timing us again?"

Tsubasa walked slowly, trying to hear the conversation discreetly.

"She won't."

"She's done it once, she can do it again."

"But this time she's got people she cares about that she doesn't want to see get hurt. It's very simple, really. When we say 'don't get too close' (refer to chapter 2), she does the exact opposite. What, did you just think I like sending cryptic messages to sound mysterious and dark?"

"...you planned all this?" Persona sounded incredibly impressed, "From when - three years ago - you foresaw all this?"

Tsubasa was also impressed with the master. He was hatching a plan to get back at the government AS the government were taking them down.

"Why did we let her go, barely alive? Why did we let her contact her uncle? Why didn't we just kill her?"

"You're a genius, master! As always."

"Of course."

Tsubasa let out a breath as he finally walked out of earshot. A manipulative, evil genius, he thought.

.

.

.

Unexpectedly, Mikan's meeting with the Alices wasn't going to be her last either. After getting about four hours of sleep, she woke up to the growling of her stomach.

What she finds in the kitchen wasn't only food but also a dark figure leaning against the kitchen island counter eating an apple.

Natsume had glanced at her briefly when she walked out, refusing to move even when she had to awkwardly stand in front of him to get a look inside the refrigerator.

He was enjoying this, she thought with a scowl. The plums in the last drawer looked appetizing, but she'd rather not have to bend over in front of him to get it.

Mikan ended up grabbing a granola bar from the pantry. She ate it quickly, but took her time going back to her room.

Now that she was looking at him, an odd thought crossed her mind. She wanted to keep him.

Sensing her stare, Natsume turned to her oddly, an odd feeling in his chest at her fond smile as she looked at him as if he was some kind of pet. "What?" he asked gruffly.

She grinned, taking a big step towards him, tiptoeing in an attempt to pet his head, but he caught her hand in his. The sudden touch seemed to caught them both off guard and there was a burning sensation between them that was there and yet...he wasn't sure what was there, actually.

"I'm not gonna make any more excuses." Mikan whispered lowly.

Unsure of what she meant, Natsume only stared down at her. He didn't have to do so much longer for she captured his lips.

It was a light, tentative one. As if she was just testing the softness of his lips.

When they parted, they only moved back barely an inch. Natsume's lips curved only slightly before he captured her lips. This time, it was deeper.

Before she knew it, Mikan was pushed back against the island table. Natsume on the other hand, had his arms behind her, shoving items on the table away. Soon enough, he placed his hands on her waist and lifted her up to sit her on the island. She kept her arms around his neck, and their lips together. She eventually wrapped her legs around his waist, putting her weight on him and no longer on the table. He stumbled back against the fridge.

They ended up kissing all the way to Natsume's bedroom.

.

.

.

"Okay, last night did not happen." Mikan whispered. It was morning and she was fully dressed, standing by the door, ready to leave. Natsume was still in bed, looking at her with squinted eyes, a smirk playing on his lips.

"It felt pretty real."

"Shut up." Mikan opened the door a crack then immediately closed it, her back against it. Natsume quirked an amused eyebrow. "Hotaru just came out of her room. She didn't see me. Okay, Natsume, we have to keep this between us. No one else needs to know about this. Got it?"

"Yeah," Natsume agreed carelessly. When she threw him a look, he rolled his eyes, "do I look like the type to brag to friends about having sex?"

"Maybe." Mikan smiled teasingly, then dropped it when she spoke scandalously, "As long as we're the only ones that know about this."

"YOU TWO IDIOTS MADE A MESS IN THE KITCHEN." Hotaru yelled, "STOP HAVING SEX AND CLEAN THIS UP!"

The pair blinked, then sighed. Mikan said the inevitable, "So, this is between us...and Hotaru."

.

.

.

Apparently, they couldn't keep it in their pants. Just a week later, Mochu had caught them in the closet.

"_DAMN, _y'all,' Mochu exclaimed, half-astonished, half-annoyed, "Man, why y'all be actin' like y'all hatin' on each other all the time when y'all be doin' each other in the little dark closets in the damn corner just come on out into the light, y'all, we ain't gon' judge!" When Natsume tried to say something again, he held his palm up, "Aight, okay, a little, we gon' judge a little, I mean y'all hated each other's guts, balls, fuckin' eyebrows, and hair - damn." He shook his head at the two of them, "I just can't, man, this is all too much, it's like a freaking tv show or movie or shit, like why all the complicated shit, you know? Why can't it be just catching bad guys and justice and shit, you know, why it gotta be like them soap opera? Anna and Kits, man, and whatever the hell's with Sumire nowadays, and y'all two, I just can't, man!"

"Mochu!" Natsume finally barked.

"What!" Mochu barked back, distracted from his rant. Then he focused back on reality. By now, both agents were fully dressed.

"get the fuck out." Natsume not so kindly ordered.

"Oh," Mochu blinked, "_oh, _damn, sorry, I just - yeah, I'll - yup, leaving, on my out. I saw nothing, nothing at all, just a closet full of brooms and dustpans, no one was in there at all."

Mikan rolled her eyes, Natsume glared.

"Great," Mikan threw her hands up, "Now it's Hotaru _and_ Mochu."

.

.

.

**Lights, Camera, Action!**

"Dammit mochu! Can we talk about this when I'm not fucking someone?!"

"excuse me?" Mikan scowled at Natsume.

"Correction," Natsume smirked, "When I'm not fucking the most fuckable person in the world."

"You make me sound like a whore."

"You're only a whore if I'm not the only one you're fucking with, which is unacceptable."

"Alright CUT!" The director yelled, "You two are not having this discussion right now."

**Lights, Camera, Action!**

"_DAMN, _y'all,' Mochu exclaimed, half-astonished, half-annoyed, "Man, why y'all be actin' like y'all hatin' on each other all the time when y'all be doin' each other in the little dark closets in the damn corner just come on out into the light, y'all, we ain't gon' judge!" When Natsume tried to say something again, he held his palm up, "Aight." He paused, "aight." There was another long pause and stray laughter in the background. "Aight - why the fuck do I sound like a country-ghetto mess, man?" Now he was looking off camera, straight at the director, who shrugged with a laugh.

**Lights, Camera, Action!**

"I'm not a double agent." Mikan stated for the umpteenth time in the span of a half hour. She looked around at her teammates, her eyes finally landing on Natsume's intense stare, "I'm not." She looked bewildered, looking around again at the silence in the air. "You guys can't possibly think - you guys don't-"

"No, no, of course not-" Koko responded reassuringly, "you've been with us for nine chapters already - it's not like I haven't already judged you from the billion times we've co-starred."

Mikan laughed, slapping him on the arm, "hey!"

**Lights, Camera, Action!**

Jinno crossed his arms, scoffing at her. "So what are you going to do when you catch the killer this time, Sakura?" Jinno taunted, "tell your friends to tie up the loose ends?"

"I didn't hire them." Mikan bit out, "I don't know why they're - whoever they are - doing this. I - we've seen these reports and we've tried to investigate but obviously we've met dead ends."

There was a pregnant pause as Jinno and Mikan stared each other down. Then Jinno started laughing, "dead ends - hahaha."

Soon enough the rest of the crew started laughing.


	11. 9

"What's the mission?" Mikan asked breathlessly.

Persona looked over the railing, down at the rebellious eyes looking up at him. "Them."

Her eyes whipped to him in surprise, she then looked over the railing down at her teammates. The eight people that took her in and called her one of them. She wanted to sit down, to hold on to something, to find an external source of strength because she couldn't find it in herself just then.

His lips curved upwards in a display of evil. He turned around, pulling on his hood, then instructed, "It'll be a test of your loyalty - that which we haven't seen enough of recently. You know them well. Master wants them totally destroyed. All their files in ashes - every back-up they have- digital or paper. Everything they own, completely obliterated. Clear out all their bank accounts and take their money, down to the last penny. Their name -" Persona bared his teeth. "by the time you're done with them, the United States government should be ashamed that had such a project as The A Team. The civilians will be calling for their heads. But they'll be too late, because you'll kill each and every one of them yourself."

.

.

.

**The A Team**

_Aspirator_

.

.

.

_3 hours ago._

"You're not normal." Natsume drawled, rolling his eyes. At the moment, he was trying to convince Mikan, in that lazy but somehow persuasive way of his, that she's anything but average as she likes to think herself to be.

"But, look, we're in Starbucks, and I _looooove_ Starbucks!" Mikan argued. "New Yorkers love Starbucks!"

Not only was their conversation slightly pointless, but also their rendezvous. They were in a 24 hour coffee shop at 10 PM, after a less-busy-than-the-usual day of work.

No, Mikan and Natsume were not on a date. If you asked either of them, they would deny it.

"You don't love Starbucks." The dark-haired agent dissented, "you love chai tea. Getting chai tea from Starbucks is not a New Yorker thing. They get coffee."

"I drink coffee too." Mikan frowned.

They were just hanging out together, alone, just for fun, and getting to know each other. Not date-like at all.

"You call it coffee," Natsume shrugged, "I call it ninety percent milk and sugar." Then he proceeded to sip his black - hazelnut flavored - coffee.

"How do you drink coffee black?!" Mikan exclaimed, half defensively, "it's just so…" she lifted her hands trying to formulate a description, but unable to find the right words, she settled with, "you know what, it suits you perfectly. It's smooth -"

"You think I'm smooth?" Natsume smirked.

She ignored him, continuing, "-and dark and unreadable."

Half-amusedly, he responded indirectly, "how do you still think you're normal when you try to read coffee?" He couldn't help but tease her a little, "what are you looking for? A sign from above? The weather?"

"that's not what I meant!" She scowled at her partner. "And everyone has quirks, that doesn't mean they're not still normal."

"Have you looked up the word normal in the dictionary recently?"

"I know what it means!" Mikan exclaimed in infuriation.

"Without experiencing normalcy?"

"I have so." She claimed, against Natsume's dubious raised eyebrow. "You know I regained my memory now, right? I had a normal childhood."

"If by normal you mean eccentric then it all makes sense." Natsume nodded surely, as if he was completely agreeing with her.

She sent him a look, "no, really, I did."

"Sure," He responded sarcastically, "'cause we were all brought up by world-class criminals."

"Okay, so some parts weren't normal. But the rest of it is." Mikan leaned forward in excitement, getting ready to tell her story - partly to show him that she _did_ have a normal childhood, but mostly because she wanted him to know a part of herself.

"You have to understand," Mikan had told him before she began, "I can't say names, locations, or any distinguishing details."

_As you proceed, dear reader, be forewarned that while I am relaying to you Mikan's stories, I am telling it to you in much more detail than she is telling Natsume. I am including names, characteristics, and particulars that Natsume will not be informed of._

First, here's a little background about Mikan. She grew up in the Academy - that was what they called the Alices training compound. The Academy was much like a school, but people went up levels on their own pace. People would come, get tested into a level, and just move their way up. Once they couldn't handle it anymore, they "graduated" and received their Alices ranking based on their level. They were employed and sent on missions accordingly.

With a system like the Academy, people came and went. But there were the ones that stayed the longest. They were the ones that went all the way up to the highest level before graduating. To the Alices, they were the Elites. To Mikan, they were the people she grew up with. They called themselves a family. Being grouped together for so long, they had the dynamic of one.

Mikan was one of two who had been brought there as a baby. The other was her best friend, or she considered her her twin sister; her name was Sakura.

"I was born a mischief," Mikan started, a reminiscent smile gently lighting up her features, "but I only learned from the best."

. . .

It was barely dawn. In any normal house, all of its occupants would still be snoring. In the Academy, many, if not all, of its dwellers are already up and about. Most of which, in fact, were getting their morning workouts down in the vast and overly equipped gym.

Suddenly, an angry voice hurtled through the air. "_**MIKAN! SAKURA!**_"

Snickers floated around the room as a small girl, barely a teen, dashed into the girl's dressing rooms. She had shoulder length sun-kissed brown hair, small hazel eyes, and a scrawny appearance. She seemed to be just starting the puberty stage, with awkwardly long limbs but still keeping the baby face. She was the one called Mikan.

Right next to her, giggling madly, was another girl of the same age. She had short auburn hair, a lighter shade than her counterpart's, and sparkling green eyes. This girl, on the other hand, seemed to be born a supermodel. There doesn't seem to be an awkward stage any time in her future; she was already hurtling towards beauty. She was the one called Sakura.

"What's our story?" Sakura whispered to Mikan.

They peered over the frames of the door to spot a fuming, tall female, stomping around the equipment in search of them. She was a black haired beauty, of a high school age, having already gone through puberty. Her name was Misaki.

"It was you." Mikan whispered back.

With a gasp, Sakura slapped Mikan on her arm. Mikan winced, hissing at her best friend, frowning, "Fine. It was Tsubasa."

Hearing that, Sakura grinned. "Okay." She looked around the locker room. "act natural."

"I _am_ natural." Mikan returned, trying her best to walk as casually as possible next to her friend...to the other end of the dressing rooms where they could hide behind showers and toilets.

"Naturally awkward." Sakura retorted easily. She stepped to the left side of a shower, turning on the water. Understanding her intentions, Mikan stepped to the right side of the shower, dodging the pressurized water as she turned the shower head up to shoot water out at a 90 degree angle. Sakura closed the curtain to contain the water. Then with mischievous grins, they both took off their shoes, placing them inside the shower stall. With bare feet, they tiptoed to the next shower stall. Mikan went in first. Pushing herself against the stall wall with her back and arms, she braced her feet against the opposite wall so as not to give away their position. Sakura mirrored the stance, closing the curtain next to her. They waited with bated breath.

Soon enough, footsteps came. The mischievous pair tried to hold in their breath as the footsteps passed by their stall. It stopped to the one next to them. Impatiently, Sakura hopped down, lightly, along with Mikan. They peered around the curtain to see Misaki peer under the curtain of the stall next to them, grinning at the sight of their shoes.

Triumphantly, Misaki tore open the curtain, exclaiming, "Gotch-" but she never got to finish for water came at her face full force.

The preteen pair couldn't hold in their giggles and laughter this time, causing the angry teen to switch from fumbling with covering her face from the water to attempting an intimidating glare.

Quickly, she reached in the stall with her right hand, her left hand covering her face, as she turned the water off. But she was not quick enough, for the pair had scrambled off again.

That day in class, Izumi found one of his female star students to be perplexingly flustered paired with random fits of anger. Coincidence or not, his two youngest pupils would burst out in sniggers during those oddly timed fits of anger. He supposed he'll let Yuka deal with it.

. . .

At 18, they had both graduated from the Academy as Elites with others that were ten - if not more - years older than them. Soon enough, she was sent on mission after mission, and she saw her best friend less and less. Maybe in passing they'd see each other at the Mission Center but only briefly. By the time Mikan was 22, she hadn't seen Sakura in a year and everyone else knew as much as she did. She had to be around somewhere, Mikan supposed, just not in her side of things.

When she lost her memory three years ago, there was one sliver of cognizance that she had oddly held onto quite strongly. That was the name Sakura. There was just something about that name that gave her warmth. She figured her first name was Mikan - it just felt right the way Narumi came in and called her so. He said he didn't have a last name for her, he figured maybe she'd like to make one up herself. So she called herself Mikan Sakura.

. . .

When Mikan finished her story, however, Natsume was staring - in an oddly adverse way - at something behind her. She turned around to see Koko and Kitsuneme sitting in a booth two tables away.

Well, it was more of Koko's hair - his face was hidden behind a held up menu - and Kitsuneme's back. But she was pretty sure she knew who they were.

"Koko?" She blurted in disbelief, loud enough to make the blond jump.

Slowly pulling the menu down, he grinned sheepishly, "Wow! Mikan! Hi! Ha ha, fancy seeing you here!"

Kitsuneme also turned around, a grin pasted on his face, "Hey you two! What are you doing here? Ha ha ha ha!"

Mikan sent Natsume a glance, in which he only returned with a dark look. Ignoring his attitude and unhappy groan, Mikan turned back around to invite the pair to join them.

The K-pair eagerly ran to their side, shoving the couple further down the booth.

Soon enough members of the A Team began to join them, too, all suspiciously had been out 'for a midnight snack and happened to see them through the window'. And 'no, they weren't already in the restaurant spying on them and ran out the back door and came in through the front door to make it look like they just arrived'. Mochu coughed loudly, shoving the waitress away when she seemed to have recognized him.

After an hour of happy, lighthearted conversations, Kitsuneme and Koko exchanged anxious glances. Kitsuneme finally couldn't take it anymore. "So, what are you two doing, you know, in a coffee shop, alone, just hanging out, alone, together, you know?" Kitsuneme questioned not-so-subtly. Hotaru sent him a glare, Anna and Nonoko smacked their foreheads, and Mochu seemed a little too enthusiastic about the conversation.

Natsume stared him down, causing him to shrink back a little. But Mikan answered the question, "oh, you just said it, we're just hanging out." She shrugged, completely oblivious. "I could say the same for you and Koko - and Nonoko and Yuu."

Koko added in, with a cheeky grin, "See, Yuu and Nonoko are a couple, so if it's the same -"

"But, you and Kitsuneme aren't a couple...are you?" Mikan cocked her head.

Kitsuneme sputtered, and Koko kicked himself for getting into that situation. "No - I was just saying-"

"You two were making out in the closet!" Mochu exclaimed impatiently. "That's called having a 'thing', if ya know what I mean, ya feel?"

What followed was absolute silence for a total of sixty seconds.

Yuu coughed. "So, um, th-that poisoning case today...ha ha, weird huh? That it was actually an overdose?" When no one answered, he withdrew. "Yeah….."

Nonoko patted his arm sympathetically. Natsume sent him an unreadable but if Yuu hallucinates maybe a little, it might be a grateful look? Mikan not looking at him, nor anybody, for her face is completely red. But the rest of the team was staring at him blankly.

"Oh," Yuu's voice broke like a teen going through puberty. He cleared his throat again, "Look at the time, um...going to head back to my-my, uh, pet turtle needs to be, uh, yeah - I'll just-" He stood up awkwardly, shuffling under the weight of everyone's stare.

"I have never seen a pet turtle in the entire six months we've been sharing the apartment." Mochu stated bluntly.

"I-I-I-I mean my phone!" Yuu held it up as if it was Simba. "I call it my pet turtle, it's a, this is blue but some sea turtles are also blue-I have to charge it-him. I have to charge him, my phone pet turtle." As he fumbled with his phone in the air, nervously, he accidentally pressed the unlock button and the screen lighted up, showing the battery level at 99%. His eyes widened when he realized and he quickly attempted to pocket the phone, only to drop it and catch it multiple times - to the amusement of his team members. "it-it's wrong-uh-yeah-I just - I'm going to-yeah okay." He turned around, stiffly marching away.

"Someone gonna go after him?" Natsume drawled.

Six pairs of eyes turned to Natsume questionably. Mikan, who understood, added, "you know, our buddy system. Someone needs to go with him."

"Now y'all are finishing each other's sentences." Mochu muttered.

"I'll go." Nonoko volunteered, jumping up to run after him.

"Why don't we all go?" Anna suggested, "he's right, it's kinda late."

And so the nine - for they had caught up to Nonoko and Yuu - happily walked back to their apartments…only to be attacked a mere five blocks from the coffee shops.

And thus, Mikan found herself in a predicament.

She was standing next to Persona, in the shield of the darkness, five stories above the ground on the fire escape by the side of a run-down brick apartment building.

"Look at them." The words slithered out of lips as dark as night, from a face covered in a white mask. She looked into those eyes, those bottomless pits of darkness that knew no sympathy, that knows no light. "Mikan, look at your friends," he sneered.

Eight of the A Team were struggling as five of the Alices overpowered them easily. The weaker of the eight, Nonoko, Yuu, and Anna, were easily forced on the ground, holding their wounds, breathing heavily. Mochu, Koko, and Kitsuneme had fought hard, but they weren't fast enough. They were quickly taken care of, bound and tied, dumped next to the first three. Hotaru and Natsume were tough, but not tough enough. They lay fatally wounded on the ground - especially Natsume, who still struggled to sit up, though he was close to death.

"Ten minutes." Persona spoke, "they were done for in ten minutes." He laughed sadistically, as if he had made a hilarious joke. "They're weak," he turned to her. He noticed her clenched fist, her gritted teeth, her flashing eyes. But he only chuckled darkly. "This is why you're hesitating? Because of them? These pathetic people who can't fight without a gun? They're smart," he mocked her. "but they only know what types of gun we're holding, they only know where to find the source of death on someone already gone, they don't come until we've already made our mark. They're always ten steps behind because that's their job - to pick up our leftovers." Persona grinned at Mikan's dark expression. "It's too bad we don't leave any. These people are useless."

"No, they're not." Mikan growled, her pent up anger finally showing. She whirled around to face him, her hard hazel orbs clashing with his dark, pitch black ones.

There was an Alice beside her and an Alice beside Persona. They quickly detained her, long enough for Persona to grab her neck, scratching her tender skin with his nails. With one last punch to the gut, knocking her breath out, the two back up Alices released her.

Persona pushed her back, his hold on her neck tightening. He pushed her into the light and against the railing of the fire escape. She felt the cold metal through the cloth against her back. Mikan heard the cries of her teammates when they saw her.

There was a renewed struggle beneath her, but soon enough, there were thuds and sickening groans.

"You hear that?" Persona spoke softly so only she could hear. "You hear them call out to you? Fight for you? All eight of them, making the sacrifice just for one person. You."

Mikan struggled to breathe, her fingers clawing at his strong hand. She used her legs to try to trip him, to kick him away, but of course, Persona had seen it coming.

He had let go, as she had wanted him to, but he didn't trip, he didn't fall. Instead, he caught her legs and flipped her over. And so she was in the same position but with the front of her neck pressed against the railing. She could see them even better now. Persona's hand was now in the back of her neck and he pressed her against the railing.

"You see them suffering? Look at that one, hm?" He pointed out Natsume, barely able to stand, let alone get on his knees. But he lifted his eyes and his scarlet orbs were looking at her. Persona pressed harder, causing Mikan to gasp for breath. "He fought really hard for you. He's so close to death now. Are you worth it, Mikan? Hm? All the bloodshed? All the lives, the futures of these people?"

Mikan remembered the deaths of her parents. She remembered being so small, so helpless. She remembered crying on Tsubasa's shoulder.

"They're just the tip of the iceberg, Mikan." Persona continued, "there will be more. Agent Narumi, Agent Jinno, your uncle, Mr. Yukihira. Anyone who has ever been in contact with you. That policeman Nogi, that lady Shouda."

She remembered three years ago, the death of Nobara. The death of Misaki. The look on Tsubasa's when his heart broke.

"Are you worth the sacrifice?" Persona whispered in her ear, letting her go a little as she desperately vacuumed air into her lungs. "But they'll be fighting for nothing. They'll have lost their lives for nothing. Because once you've taken their side, after they suffer through their long, slow deaths, you'll be next."

She remembered Tsubasa looking at her with begging eyes. _"I don't want you to make the right choice," he said, "I want you to make the choice that will help you survive."_

"No." She voiced weakly.

Persona released her, and Mikan sank down to her knees, her back leaning against the railing. She looked down at the people she care about, at the pain she's caused them.

"What was that?" Persona crouched down next to her.

"I'm not worth it." she looked at him. Mikan looked up at Persona, into his pitch black soul, "I'll do it."

"Good." Persona stood up, and so did she, though staggeringly. The two Alices held her arms tightly, just in case.

"What's the mission?" Mikan asked breathlessly.

Persona looked over the railing, down at the rebellious eyes looking up at him. "Them."

Her eyes whipped to him in surprise.

His lips curved upwards in a display of evil. He turned around, pulling on his hood, then instructed, "It'll be a test of your loyalty - that which we haven't seen enough of recently. You know them well. Master wants them totally destroyed. All their files in ashes - every back-up they have- digital or paper. Everything they own, completely obliterated. Clear out all their bank accounts and take their money, down to the last penny. Their name -" Persona bared his teeth. "by the time you're done with them, the United States government should be ashamed that had such a project as The A Team. The civilians will be calling for their heads. But they'll be too late, because you'll kill each and every one of them yourself."

What?

For a long minute, Mikan repeated his words over and over again in her head. No no no no no, she thought, I can't do that. The gears in her brain turned as she thought of a way out.

"Did the Master order this?" Mikan inquired, gesturing to their surroundings, "this whole attack? He made you leave your comfortable little batcave?"

Persona snorted, "No, I do whatever the hell I-" One of the Alices turned their head towards him."-yes."

"Since you've come all the way out here in the outside world, a rare occasion," Mikan cajoled, "You should take a little freedom, celebrate it."

Persona laughed, loudly, in that chilling, spine-shivering, nasty laugh of his. He laughed and laughed, and finally he turned to her, his face straightening to a stern look, "no."

Mikan slumped. Damn, she tried. "But - I - why don't you just kill them off now? Like you said, they're weak right now." Mikan protested.

Persona smiled though there was no humor in his voice. "because I want _you_ to see the disbelief in their faces, the betrayal in their eyes when you finish them." He paused, taking a small object the size of a bluetooth from his pocket. "From now on, you are an Alice." He spoke, handing it to her . "That's how we'll be contacting each other. You have a month to do the mission. You can take two Elites with you, the Shadow and the Soul Sucker."

Mikan only stared up at Persona, neither agreeing nor denying.

"And if you need, your back-up Alices will be a maximum of three." Persona continued. "Get it done, do it right...or- you know the consequences."

With that, and Mikan left speechless, Persona calmly strode off, climbing up the fire escape to the roof. At the same time, the five Alices on the ground left their victims, climbing the walls, jumping levels, to get to the roof faster.

The two Alices holding Mikan waited a few breaths before letting her go. Unfortunately, their method was not usual. They had thrown her out of the fire escape and into the cold hard air, for her to fall five stories to the ground.

She heard her teammates screams as they saw her fly out.

She avoided that fate easily. Throwing her weight into her arms, she reached for the railings at level three as she passed it - she barely caught the end of the level, one of the metals bars near the floor. She felt her hands slipping so she threw her weight into her feet. She swung back, then let go as she swung forward. She used momentum to throw herself at the fire escape landing of level two. She missed the landing. Instead, she had crashed against the window, falling through with shards of glass.

The room she fell into was empty, barren, abandoned. When she got up with a groan, picking shards of glass out of her arm, still trying to process her orders.

By the time Koko and Kitsuneme had untied themselves and bounded up the stairs and through the shattered window to Mikan, the eight Alices had been long gone, into the shadows of the night.

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"What do they want?"

The one question that Mikan has struggled to answer in the following days after the team's recovery. Should she tell the truth? Should she lie?

Hotaru wouldn't let it go.

"Mikan." She growled, staring her down as the rest of the team had cornered her.

Mikan suppressed a whimper.

"Hotaru says they wouldn't just leave you alone like that." Anna states.

"Yeah, you'd have to have compromised with them." Nonoko finished Anna's thought.

"What deal did you make?" Kitsuneme pried.

"They threw me off a five story fire escape." Mikan stated, as if that answered their question. "I obviously didn't compromise."

Natsume scoffed.

Hotaru rolled her eyes, "Bullshit. If you didn't compromise they would've killed us right then and there."

With a grim set to her lips, Mikan rushed the words out of her mouth. "They want me to destroy all traces of them on the FBI database. All of it."

Mikan controlled her facial features, her heart thumping wildly. Lying through her teeth was so, _so_ hard under the scrutiny of eight pairs of eyes. Especially under Natsume and Hotaru's sharp stare.

Finally, Yuu broke the silence. "If they needed you to do it, then they don't know where it is."

"They wouldn't know if you had destroyed them all or not." Hotaru theorized.

"Yes," Mikan almost let out a bitter laugh, "yes, they would."

"How?" Mochu asked.

"They'll find ways." Mikan stated, almost loyally.

"Well if they're gonna find ways to find out if you destroyed them all, then why don't they just destroy them themselves?" Koko reasoned.

"Why you?" Kitsuneme asked the question that plagued everyone's minds.

Now how was she going to get out of this one? Mikan frowned bitterly, "Because I can be so easily manipulated."

"Only if you let them." Natsume retorted.

"You were in the emergency room for the past _week_," Mikan argued angrily, "What was I supposed to do? 'Yeah, sure, kill all of my friends!'"

"There were other ways." He responded, though unreasonably. "we could've gotten out of there."

"Yeah, right." Mikan crossed her arms. "You all fell in ten minutes."

"What, were you timing while you happily socialize with our enemies?"

"If I wasn't 'socializing' you wouldn't be here right now!" Mikan scowled.

"So they _did_ ask more of you." Natsume stated, matching her stance by crossing his arms.

Damn it. Mikan quickly made up an excuse. "I might've offered them something on the spot to keep you guys alive." she shifted her eyes purposely in pretense of unwillingly giving out the information. "Like my access card. As one of the top agents of FBI, I can access any part of the FBI building or system except for Level 5 classified and above, right?"

Eight other heads nodded in agreeance.

"That's a security breach." Natsume gritted out lowly, annoyed at the revelation.

"What else could I offer?" Mikan raised her arms in helpless frustration.

"There's nothing national security important that's not level 5 classified, anyway, right?" Mochu spoke up, trying to placate the situation.

"Yeah, why would they accept that offer? It's not much in the grand scheme of international organized crime, right?" Anna asked uncertainly.

"The Alice can use even the simplest things to their advantage." Mikan stated, her first truth since the conversation started.

"Spoken like a member." Natsume muttered sarcastically. Eyeing her, he added, "have you talked to Luna yet for your monthly visits?"

Mikan was starting to sweat. She hoped that was not a glint of suspicion in his eyes. "Why would I?" she lied. "And I'm just saying, it's a powerful organization."

"I feel like you're overestimating these people." Kitsuneme shrugged, "We're FBI not Secret Service or CIA, what are they gonna do with our cases? Read over them next to a fireplace and cackle evilly?"

"Never underestimate what the Alices can do." Mikan frowned. She turned to Natsume, "that's how you lost me three years ago, isn't it?"

In the background, Koko gasped, "Oh no she didn't!"

Natsume's jaw clicked, his teeth clenched, his eyes blazed. With clenched fists, he promptly turned around and stalked away.

"You know he blames himself for that, right?" Hotaru commented quietly.

Mikan nodded, looking apologetic, but made no move to run after him. That got him to lay off her, at least.

"So what are you going to do?" Hotaru asked, referring back to their discussion.

"What I always do." Mikan smiled, lying through her teeth, "I won't listen."

Hotaru nodded, believing her, "Good. Maybe destroy the obvious files just for show."

"I'll do that." Mikan said, walking away as she ignored the tightening in her chest.

It was the hardest month Mikan had ever lived through, emotionally. She had to smile, joke, laugh with her teammates even though her insides twisted like a pretzel.

Every time the question came up, Mikan had to look into Natsume's eyes and smile and say everything's okay - swallowing back a "no actually, here's the truth.." Because she _knew_ that in a few days everything he has will be taken from him.

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A/N: I wrote this instead of my college application essay sooooo YEAH IF I GET ANY HATE ABOUT THAT LATE UPDATE I'M THROWING SOME HATE BACK 'CAUSE THEY SAY YOU FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE YA FEEL? No just kidding, but really, easiest way to piss me off right now is complaining about how late the update is. IF I WAS A COMMITTED COLLEGE APPLICANT AND HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR THIS CHAPTER WOULDN'T BE UP TIL FEBRUARY NEXT YEAR SO YA BETTA 'PPRECIATE YA FEEL?

Speaking of, the next chapter is nowhere near done, so THAT might be coming up next year, but we'll see.

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**Lights, camera, and action!**

Director stands backstage, laughing next to a serious faced Natsume, "Ha ha monthly visit, good one. Imagine if Luna was a therapist."

"I would be a fabulous one." Luna interjected, flicking her hair as she passed by.

And so…

**Lights, camera, and action!**

"So." Luna smiled darkly as she sat across Mikan in a dark room, the fireplace next to her being the only source of light. "It's our monthly session. How has it been? Your memory coming along nicely? You ready to kill people? Castrate them? Are you at the torturing mercilessly stage yet?"

As the camera turned to Mikan, it showed her sitting as far back as she could into the sofa. Her eyes were wide, looking as if a deer caught in headlights.

"No answer?" Luna continued, smiling undeterred. "That's fine, let's look at your cases so far." She picked up a few manila folders on a table next to her sofa. Using the fireplace light as a guide, she reads, "victim died of multiple stab wounds. Cut off fingers…" She flipped through case after case, reading the gruesome circumstances surrounding deaths or kidnappings, and laughing loudly though there was no humor in context. Her laugh sounded like a witch's evil cackle.

The camera turned back to Mikan, looking frightened and ready to bolt, as the camera zoomed in on her, she mouthed, 'help!'

Backstage, Kitsuneme turned to Koko, "what'd I tell you?!"

**Lights, camera, and action!**

Every time the question came up, Mikan had to look into Natsume's eyes and smile and say everything's okay - and she couldn't bear it anymore.

"No, actually, here's the truth…" Mikan finally explained what she had been planning, feeling more light hearted as she got the weight off her chest.

Natsume sat through the long explanation. Finally, as she nervously waited for his reply, he looked her in the eye and said, "another reason why you're not normal: you tell the guy you have a thing with that you've been planning their total demise."

Mikan stares at him.

Natsume sighs, stands up, and pats her head.

Koko passes by, commenting, "You have commitment problems, don't you?"

"It's okay," Anna walks up from behind him, "I think it's normal, Mikan, you know, some people make up crazy things too…. just not as elaborate...and creepy...and completely doable…"

"It's not normal." Kitsuneme confirmed. Shaking his head, he placed a hand on Mikan's shoulder. "Look, if you just, you know, need to talk or anything like a psychiatrist - I'm not saying you need a shrink-"

"He's saying you need a shrink, and that's me, my major." Koko grinned.

"Me too!" Luna yelled from back stage. "I can be therap-mmph!"

Kitsuneme distractedly stared off backstage, "did someone just shove Luna into the closet?"

"Can I get in with her?" Mochu quickly responded. The team turned to stare at him in disgust. "What? If you think about it she's actually kinda hot."

"De-teamed." Koko spoke curtly.

"I have the paperwork ready." Hotaru stated evenly.

"I'll kick his stuff out of our apartment." Kitsuneme volunteered.

"I'm taking his desk!" Mikan sat up excitedly.


	12. 10: PART ONE

_One week ago._

Mikan's laugh rang over the roof tops and the skyscrapers of Manhattan, and Natsume low chuckle travelled softly to her ears only.

They were sitting on the rooftop, their legs dangling precariously over the edge. By this time, they were a thing. It was obvious, yet no one knew what the thing was. There was no label, no proclamation of any sort.

"Have you ever thought about," Mikan looked to the sky as her legs kicked youthfully at the air. "why you like me?"

"Every time you open your mouth." Natsume responded immediately.

"Rude!" Mikan gasped, slapping his arm playfully. "I was trying to be serious!"

"I am serious." Natsume said with the most serious face he could muster.

She scowled at him. "uh-huh, yeah. But really." Mikan looked dreamily to the sky again. "pretend we're just a guy and a girl who like each other, sitting on a rooftop, talking about anything and everything."

"I don't pretend." Natsume looks to her seriously, shushing her protests. "we _are _just a guy and a girl who like each other, more than they know, sitting on the rooftop talking about life."

"I mean forget the whole FBI thing, all the crimes that we have to solve, the Alices-" and Natsume made a face as if to say, where did that come from? So Mikan went on quickly, "whatever drama, mystery, or background stress is going on. Forget it all. Just the two of us on a rooftop looking at the big wide world."

So he did look out over the rooftops. "You mean Manhattan."

"Yeah, whatever, Natsume." Mikan waved a dismissive hand at him, "Just go with me."

"Okay." Natsume stares thoughtfully into the distance as Mikan stares thoughtfully at his profile.

After a long moment of content silence, he turned to her, catching her eye. "What do normal couples talk about?"

Mikan's soft hazel eyes rolled up, as if the sky had the answer. She made eye contact as she replied, "I don't know." A grin blossomed over her face as she laughed.

The edge of Natsume's lips twitched upwards. "We're really good at this." He commented dryly.

Mikan shushed her partner. She looked out over the streets of Manhattan. Quietly, she started, "We're just a girl and a guy who like each other. We could go run across Central Park, sing our hearts out-"

"You sing, I'll play the guitar." Natsume went along with her.

"We could take a roadtrip to the countryside-"

"And what? Go skipping through fields of sunflowers?"

Mikan frowned disapprovingly at him. "Fine just roadtripping; cross country. We could go to the mountains and go skiiing-"

"Or just chill in a cabin in front of the fire." Natsume suggested.

"Introvert." Mikan coughed. "We could travel the world - go to Paris, or Rome, or we could watch the Olympics together-"

"You really hate Manhattan that much?" Natsume frowned at the city. "You keep trying to get away from here."

"I'm not - I mean, I like traveling." Leave it to Mikan to take on a more positive angle. "and I do - travel a lot. It's just I never really get to see the places like a tourist or a normal person or with anyone. Just walking down the streets of Paris with someone, without a time constraint, and look through shop windows." Mikan looked to Natsume, who was attentively listening. "You know? Everytime I'm in Paris, I'm just speeding through on a motorcycle, or running through alleyways, or walking the streets with my hood down avoiding all the cameras." Mikan then turned to avoid his eyes, her voice getting smaller as she explained.

"Okay, Zurich." Natsume conceded, quickly inferring that she didn't want to talk about her missions. "Let's go to Zurich, Switzerland."

"First thing we'll do when we get there is eat chocolate." She grinned. Natsume was starting to fear she may bounce off the edge of the rooftop in her excitement.

"Go swimming in a lake."

"We could visit their old castles and stuff and pretend we live in them!" Mikan's imagination was starting to go wild.

"Hike up the mountains, then ski down." Natsume suggested.

"Have you forgotten the use of subjects in the English language?" Mikan teased.

Natsume scowled. "you know who I'm talking about - us."

"I know." Mikan smiled. "Remember this, Natsume." Mikan randomly demanded. "You have to remember our alternate lives."

Natsume sent her a strange look. "Okay…? Why?"

"Just remember us." Mikan reached under her shirt to produce a necklace. She took it off her neck and dangled it in front of Natsume. She held out a long string of solid black tied on one end. Hanging off of it was a simple but exquisite orange stone. "Remember us this way, with this."

"Where are you going?" Natsume was suddenly alarmed.

She seemed to have shrank a little. "I'm not going anywhere." She shook the necklace. "I want you to have it."

"I don't need that to remember us." Natsume frowned. "You're right here."

"I know," Mikan mirrored his frown. She gently laid the necklace in the palm of her hand. "It's precious." She sighed as she looked at it. "You have to take good care of it. Okay, Natsume?"

Natsume only stared at it. "If you're not going anywhere, then why do I have to remember us? Why do I have to take that from you?"

She didn't have an answer to that. So she settled with, "Because." She paused. "I want you to have it."

He was not satisfied with her answer.

Mikan rolled her eyes, grabbing his hand and shoving the necklace into the palm of his hand. "Just take it, Natsume!" She huffed, abruptly standing up, and avoiding his questionable stare. She allowed a last comment, "You make even the simplest things so difficult." Then she marched off.

Natsume blinked, staring after her suspiciously. He then looked down at the necklace in the palm of his hand. He felt the stone with his free hand, turning it over. It was warm. Light rays were bouncing off the bright stone, the different shades of orange in the small fragment creating an illusion of a lively whirl. On one side was a small inscribed "M". Gingerly, he pulled it over his head and hung it around his neck. He glanced down at it once more before tucking it under his shirt.

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**The A Team**

_Aspirator_

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_Present._

Mikan walked out of her room as the apartment dwellers got ready to leave for work.

Natsume spared her a glance, then double backed. With a raise of the brow, he commented, "what, you going to a funeral today?"

She looked alarmed, responding with her mouth agape. "what?" Natsume let his eyes scan down through Mikan's all-black outfit. She blinked, looking down also. "Oh," she shrugged, "all black's the new black."

Natsume gave her an odd look, indicating that he didn't know what she was talking about. With a subtle shake of his head and a roll of his eyes, he turned to walk out the door.

Just then, Hotaru emerged from her room, strolling purposefully out after him. Mikan followed, closing the door after her.

As they walked the short distance from their apartments to the FBI building, Natsume and Hotaru, on either side of Mikan, were taking long strides while Mikan seemed to be strolling leisurely.

She frowned after her second skip-sprint to catch up to them, "why are we in a hurry?"

Hotaru spared her a glance, "It's 7:55." She stated as if that answered her question.

When Mikan sent her a 'so?' look, she sighed. Hotaru slowed down, starting to explain but, like Natsume, doubled back on her teammate's outfit. "What's with the funeral attire?"

"What - Natsume said the same thing!" Mikan scowled, raising her voice as they were enveloped into the usual Manhattan crowd. "Haven't I worn black before?"

"Not completely." Hotaru pushed some passersby out of the way in annoyance. "Going to a funeral?"

"No." Mikan responded in horror. "I had better not be going to a funeral today."

Jostled out of the intersection, the three were now walking side by side down a sidewalk - not that it was any less crowded.

Hotaru cussed under her breath, then out loud, muttered to Mikan, "what is it, Black Friday? Fucking crowd."

"If it was," Natsume put in, "her outfit would make sense. Polka's stupid like that."

"Hey!" Mikan hit Natsume in the shoulder, who only spared her a haughty glance, completely unaffected by her blow. "What time is it now?"

Hotaru checked her watch, but it was Natsume who offered it this time. "8:00."

"We'll only be a little late." Hotaru calculated, pointing to their FBI building two blocks ahead, "the building's right in front of us."

"Why?" Natsume asked, glancing at Mikan curiously.

Before Mikan could answer, however, there was a large explosion that took their attention. Natsume and Hotaru whipped their heads to the front. They were floored by what they saw.

The FBI building in front of them was still intact...only that the entire top floor had been blown to bits. There was still debris flying down the length of the building and fire had caught at the now tattered roof. A commotion was going on at the ground, with people running out of the building itself, covering the heads. It was a mixture of people running away from the explosion, and curious bystanders inching towards the explosion.

Natsume and Hotaru could feel the crowd gathering behind them. They heard random voices yelling, "what's going on?" "what happened?" "IT JUST WENT KABOOM!" "terrorist attack?" "do you see a plane, dumbass?!"

They started to run towards the building, reaching in their pockets for their earpieces when they noticed someone missing.

Natsume glanced behind him, "hurry up - Mikan?" He stopped, and so did Hotaru at his tone.

They searched the crowd, to no avail. Both pushed curious citizens aside roughly, earning some glares and comments. All they could see were heads, but not the one they were looking for.

They took a glance at each other above the crowd, putting on their ear pieces. With that many people between them, they couldn't actually talk to each other in person.

"Everybody check in." Hotaru ordered harshly.

"Dude, what the hell just happened?" Koko's voice came through. "Oh- I mean, Koko, here."

"YO THAT'S OUR FLOOR!" Mochu's voice blared loudly in their ear. "MOCHU."

Natsume gave her a look between the myriad of people.

She raised a hand to send him a dismissive wave, meaning, okay fine, don't check in.

"It's Anna! GUYS!" Anna's frantic voice came through, "Nonoko's in there! And Yuu! They went in together!"

"We're fine - we're fine! We were in the elevator - still are actually. We're stuck." Yuu's wispy voice sounded quietly in their ears, between coughs. "Nonoko's - with me."

"Kitsuneme here. Did Natsume and Mikan rendezvous again?" Kitsuneme asked.

"No." Natsume responded curtly.

"She was with you and Hotaru though." Anna argued.

"Was." Hotaru offered vaguely, still searching the crowd.

"Okay, how about you two offer a little more than just one word responses?" Koko demanded.

"We lost her in the crowd." Hotaru was the one to explain.

"How in the - she's a grown woman!" Mochu exclaimed, "She is hella short though."

"Shit." Natsume's voice came through. There was a pause, where he realized he probably needed to explain. "I found her communicator on the ground. Crushed."

"The teeny ass thing?" Mochu responded, "in a crowd? on the sidewalk that's the same damn color?"

"...and you couldn't find Mikan herself." Kitsuneme responded dubiously.

Meanwhile, once the building exploded and her teammates looked away, Mikan had immediately dropped her A Team communicator and slipped into an alleyway conveniently near where they paused. There were two figures waiting for her.

"I better not be going to a funeral today?" Tsubasa questioned as he threw her the signature Alice black coat with a deep hood, mask, and black gloves.

Mikan reacted by touching her ear. "Oh I had the Alice communicator on?" She then scowled at him as she put the attire on. "Whatever."

"Come on!" Luna stomped her foot impatiently. "I wanna go ruin some lives!"

Tsubasa spared her a glance. He turned back to Mikan, who also shook her head along with him.

Mikan was the one who spoke for the both of them, addressing Luna, "You are way too excited about this." Addressing Tsubasa, she asked as she put on her black gloves. "Done with the apartments?"

Tsubasa shrugs, looking at Luna. Luna glanced up cluelessly, "What? You expected me to do manual labor?"

"I thought you'd be very interested." Tsubasa deadpanned, "it has the word 'man' in it."

"Ha ha." Luna scowled, "no. I made the Ghost do it."

"Who's the Ghost?" Mikan asked curiously.

"One of the three back-ups Persona lent you." Tsubasa answered, "they're all level one, by the way."

"Persona sent me level ones?!" Mikan exclaimed in annoyance, "That-"

"Your communicator's on." Tsubasa interrupted smirkingly.

Mikan let out an angry huff instead. She shook her head. "we better go see it."

And so, like the Elites that they were, they travelled by jumping rooftops.

Once they arrived at the roof of the taller building next to the apartments, Mikan was panting heavily.

"They _so_ spoiled you." Luna stated with a turn of her lips.

But Mikan was too busy looking in one of the windows - which, coincidentally, was her room. She squinted, "is he still in there?"

In response, Tsubasa touched his communicator, "yo, Ghost, bro, get out of there." When the figure didn't seem to have responded, he looked at Mikan with a shrug.

"Is someone gonna go get him?" Before anyone could answer, she backed up a few feet. Seeing as there's only a three foot gap between the two buildings, she made a running start and leaped, landing on the roof of the apartment building in a crouch.

"She's such a show off." Luna commented.

She travelled down the side of the building via ledges and protruded like a spider. Finally, she reached her own window and leaped inside.

"Ghost." Mikan called as she approached the other figure decked in all black. The mask turned to her. "What the hell are you doing, let's go-" She became distracted by the elaborate booby traps that she easily stepped over. "What the - they're gonna think this is some sort of prank."

"Who?" A pubescent male voice answered as the Alice walked towards her, and they headed back into her room.

Mikan turned her face to the Ghost, but remembered they were both wearing masks.

"The ones who live here?" Mikan answered in a 'duh' voice. "What, did you think we told you to set booby traps in an empty house for fun?"

The Ghost shrugged. "I'm a level one." He stated as if that were synonymous with answering yes.

Outside, Tsubasa's eyes travelled down to the streets below and noticed some familiar faces.

"Yo -" He paused, looking to Luna. "What's her codename?"

Luna shrugged, "the Bitch?"

"That's yours, what's hers?" Tsubasa replied smoothly. Luna responded with a shocked gasp. The fellow Elite rolled his eyes, "Yo, M, you've got incoming. Get him outta there pronto."

Inside the apartment, Mikan responded to Tsubasa, "got it." Looking at the Alice in front of her, she nodded, "They're coming. You go first, I'll catch up."

"Where are you going?" He asked curiously.

Without answering, Mikan ordered, "I'll meet you at the roof, got it?"

"Yeah, but-" The lower ranked Alice tried to argue.

Shaking her head, she practically shoved the Alice out the window. "Just go."

Turning around, Mikan hopped over some tripwires and sidestepped sensors to get into Hotaru's room. She attempted to open the door, but it was locked. She scowled, taking out her lock picking equipment, she fumbled with the door for a second before swinging it open.

She made a beeline for a drawer on Hotaru's desk she knew was locked. That lock she picked in less than a minute. Opening the drawer, she made a face when all she could flip through were documents.

"It has to be in here somewhere," she mumbled. In frustration, she threw out all the documents, splaying it around her. She began tapping the sides and bottom of the drawer. When nothing moved, Mikan looked around the desk, feeling the bottom of it and the sides until she felt a switch. She flicked it, and a hidden drawer slowly slid out, revealing a high advanced, ultra thin laptop.

Mikan grinned, but it dropped when she heard the lock click behind her. She quickly tucked the laptop safely in the folds of her shirt, turning to leave.

From the open doorway, Mikan saw the main entrance of the apartment swing upon, and she froze in mid step.

Natsume's voice carried to Mikan's ears as he exclaimed angrily, "what the - fuck!" She heard Hotaru snort. Apparently, opening the door has triggered some sort of paint gun, and part of the neon pink paint has splattered on the white door. By the sound of Natsume's voice, she knew where the rest of it went.

"Is this some sort of prank?!" Came Natsume's annoyed voice.

Thank you, Ghost, she silently thought as she quickly marched forward to close Hotaru's door so she can make her escape without being seen.

"Did you hear that?" Hotaru's faraway voice asked.

Mikan turned to Hotaru's window, trying to throw it open, but it was locked. Mikan quietly scolded Hotaru in her mind for locking everything in her room, taking out her lock picking equipment again.

"Door closing." Natsume curtly responded, and Mikan could hear them getting closer. Due to the sounds of "shit!", frustrated noises, and thumping, they were encountering a lot of booby traps. They were making their way to Hotaru's room, slowly, but surely.

Successfully unlocking the window, Mikan threw it open quickly. She touched her face to make sure the mask was still in place.

"I locked my door." Hotaru stated. By the loudness of their voice, Mikan knew they were outside the door now. She stepped on the ledge.

On the other side of the door, Natsume held up his gun and so did Hotaru. Slowly, he swung the door open, going in gun first.

The room was empty, but there was paper everywhere. The open window was blowing it around the room.

Hotaru looked pissed, heading straight for her open drawer. "My laptop." she stated. When Natsume glanced at her, she emphasized, "they took my laptop."

Natsume didn't respond as he turned back to the window. He marched towards it.

Meanwhile, Mikan was climbing up the side of the building the same way she had climbed down. When she glanced down, she saw Natsume's black hair stick out of the window, his head moving as he glanced left and right.

She moved even quicker now, jumping ledges and scrambling up the building using protruding bricks. Finally, her hand grasped the edge of the building, and she tumbled herself over, executing a perfect somersault.

At the same time, Natsume glanced up, just missing her black form disappearing over the edge of the building. He double checked, scanning around again.

He turned around to Hotaru's expectant expression. "Nothing."

Mikan let out a breath of relief when she landed. She looked up in a young face with emotionless blue eyes and light blonde hair.

"What's your name?" Mikan asked as she stood up slowly.

"Youichi." The young boy responded.

"How old are you?" She questioned, just out of curiosity.

"Fifteen."

Mikan nodded, turning to look at the rooftop where Tsubasa and Luna were waiting. "Okay." She responded, turning back to Youichi. "Never take off your mask while on a mission."

With a slight frown, Youichi slowly put it back on. "But I finished."

"You're not finished until you get back to HQ."

"So how are we getting back?" Youichi asked cluelessly.

"We're not going to HQ, Ghost." Mikan shook her head. In response to his question, she said, "And we're traveling by rooftops." She stepped back a few paces.

"What?" The junior Alice let out.

Instead of responding, Mikan sprinted towards the edge of the building and leaped across the three foot gap to land safely in between Tsubasa and Luna.

She turned back to see Youichi hesitate at the edge of the building. She gestured madly for him to do as she had.

Mimicking her, he backed up a few paces, sprinted toward the edge of the building, and leaped.

He fell short of the building, and Tsubasa let out a sympathetic groan.

Luckily enough, Youichi caught on to the edge of the building with his right hand, the rest of his body dangling. Two of the three Elites came forward to help him onto the rooftop.

"Sorry." Mikan laughed sheepishly, "forgot you were a level one."

Youichi shrugged, patting himself down. "Learned something new."

"Where's your communicator?" Tsubasa brought up.

Youichi paused, then turned to look at the building he just leaped from.

"YOU LEFT IT IN THERE?!" Mikan exclaimed.

Tsubasa was already on the phone, talking to the IT center at headquarters. "The Ghost's communicator is in enemy hands." He peered into Mikan's apartment window across the street, and past Mikan's open door. Hotaru was holding up the little device. "No literally, they are looking at it under a microscope. Yeah, the lines are all disconnected? One of them's tech savvy, so is there a self-destruct button?" When he said that however, Mikan shook her head wildly. "Wait nevermind, keep it. Yeah." Once he hung up, Tsubasa turned to Mikan, "what's that about?"

"They'll have it with them." Mikan responded, "we can listen in on their conversation."

"Right." Tsubasa nodded slowly. "You got the laptop?" Mikan nodded. Tsubasa glanced at the other two Alices. "Alright, let's go then." Tsubasa pocketed his phone, strolling towards the rooftop entrance to the building.

"where are we going?" Youichi asked cluelessly.

Mikan glanced at him. She might as well explain. "I stole a laptop from them," she jerked a hand behind her back. "they're pretty tech savvy so as soon as they find out its gone they're gonna try to track it or get into it somehow. Using one of the apartment rooms here is the most convenient. We want to be fast enough so that we can set everything up. The time it takes us to set everything up will be the time they'll think is taking us to travel aways. We're banking on that because I'm going to play hostage and unleash a chain of events."

"you know them?"

"well enough for them to want to get me back." Mikan responded grimly.

They quickly flew down three flights of stairs then purposefully walked past two hallways to get to a door, where the other two Alices were waiting for them.

The apartment was bare save for a single table, two chairs, and a pile of thin titanium wire. All of the windows are covered by black curtains.

Youichi watched passively as Mikan headed straight for the table. Taking out the laptop from the folds of her jacket, she set it on the table.

One of the back up Alices, codenamed the Engineer, immediately began flipping the laptop around, producing some sort of scanning device and started scanning the laptop. Once the device beeped, the Alice unscrewed that part of the laptop and carefully removed a tracking device. He destroyed it, and put the laptop back together.

Meanwhile, Mikan was taking off her Alices gear; her gloves, her hooded jacket, and her communicator. She patted herself down for any extra Alices gear she might have forgotten, producing the lock picking equipment. Then with Luna's help, she began messing up her hair and wrinkling her clothing to create a "hostage" look. She then started pulling on some sort of skin tight material as gloves up to her elbows. "Protective gear." Mikan explained, when Youichi sent her a questioning look.

The Engineer set Hotaru's laptop back upright and slid it to the left side of the table. The last back-up Alice, codenamed the Grifter, lifted the suitcase she was holding and placed it on the the table. She opened it to reveal an all-black laptop with the Alice symbol at the top of the laptop lid. She slid the laptop in front of the Engineer, then closed her suitcase.

The Engineer sat down in one of the chairs that face the right side of the table. With the Alice laptop in front of him, he turned it on and began setting things up electronically.

Tsubasa grabbed the cord of titanium wire. He ushered Mikan to the remaining chair. She sat down, and he began to wound the titanium wire tightly around her. There were three layers of titanium wire around her ankles, knees that were also wound around the chair legs, her wrists, and around her upper forearms, across her shoulders, and to the back of the chair.

Finally, with Mikan and the Engineer in place, the rest of the Alices began clearing out the space behind Mikan so as not to give away any clues.

Luna stepped away from the table and to the other side of the room, in the shadows. The Grifter followed her, and Youichi was pulled to the shadows too.

Tsubasa stood behind Mikan. He adjusted his mask, squared his shoulders, and produced a small device with a dial.

"We're ready." He spoke confidently.

.

.

.

A mere few hundred feet away, the original A team gathered in front of their apartment block. Natsume had cleaned himself off, Kitsuneme apparently sported a bruise from a "freaky pop up clown in a fucking box!", Yuu had a sore elbow from the elevator crash, and Anna suffered torn pants from a human-sized mouse trap.

"So, the only thing stolen was Hotaru's laptop," Koko clarified thoughtfully, "Mikan, and the cleanliness of our apartments."

"You have a tracking device on everybody, though, don't you?" Kitsuneme asked Hotaru.

The genius inventor pulled out her phone, tapping a few spots on the screen, then frowningly showed the rest of the team. The screen had a map of the world with a blinking dot, that was labeled Mikan. There was a time stamp on the top of the screen that moved through the minutes quickly. The map closed in on Manhattan, then specifically on a street that led up to their FBI building. The time stamp read 7:59. Once it hit 8:00, the blinking dot vanished from the screen, and the screen zoomed out to a map of the world. The time stamp froze at 8:00.

"Is that….legal?" Yuu asked hesitantly. "How did you even put it….." He trailed off as all the eyes turned to him. Some even raised their brow sardonically. He shrunk, not pursuing the subject.

"It's a good thing the A floor got destroyed," Mochu grumbled sarcastically, "'cause now we lurking around street corners and my fifty bucks in the douchebag jar was cremated."

"Mochu has a point." Anna spoke up, "we need to find a place to sit and gather our thoughts."

"Who has a laptop?" Hotaru demanded.

The team glanced at each other. Most mumbling something about the "A floor" and "that damn explosion" and "it cost a year's salary too".

Finally, Yuu offered a sheepish shrug, "I have an extra one in my apartment."

Hotaru stared him down. Yuu blinked innocently back. After a minute, she lets out a cold, "What are you waiting for - an invitation written in gold foil?"

"Ri-right." Yuu scrambled back into the building.

Quietly, Kitsuneme muttered, "I think he was waiting for a polite request actually."

"Written in silver parchment." Koko jokingly muttered back.

With Hotaru's glare, the pair followed sulkingly as the team ambled towards the nearest Starbucks. Nonoko had muttered to her ear piece, "meet us at Starbucks, Yuu!"

Within ten minutes, Hotaru had Yuu's laptop in front of her and is hacking into her own laptop. When she first pulled up the tracker on her laptop from her phone, they only gathered that the last known position was the next building over.

"At least we know they travelled that way." Kitsuneme predictably commented.

"Don't you have a webcam? Can we turn that on?" Anna asked.

Hotaru irritably sent her a look, and a "what do you think I'm doing right now?" Right then a window popped up that looked like the screen of Hotaru's laptop with green letters that read '_Laptop is turning on….'_ then, _'running through processes...'_ then, '_please type in passcode' _and a long rectangular box underneath_._

"Are we looking at your laptop's screen?" Nonoko asked in insight.

Hotaru nodded curtly, she typed in a few more keys on a separate window. When she pressed enter, another screen popped up that read _'activating webcam...'_

They were met with the sight of Mikan bound to a chair with thin wire. An Alice stood behind her stiffly, holding some sort of remote. Mikan had her mouth gagged with a thick strand of black cloth. Nonoko squinted at the screen. Hotaru zoomed in for her, and unsurprisingly, the webcam had extremely high retina quality.

"Tiny chords of wire braided around each other - around some sort of different metal - one of the wire is smooth, on is rough." Nonoko concluded. "That's the outside wiring - titanium."

"You can't tell that just by looking at it - can you?" Mochu scoffed disbelievingly at first, then began to doubt himself.

"No, that's the kind of wire used in electric fences, and those are made of thin cords of titanium on the outside, wrapped around aluminum that carries electricity." Nonoko stated matter of factly.

"So the remote that the other guy is holding…" Yuu started, but his suspicions were confirmed when Hotaru zoomed back out. The Alice nonchalantly turned the dial, and Mikan reacted by wincing, then writhing.

The clothing that the wire was wrapped around began to smoke.

"Singeing clothing," Nonoko commented, "that's about 50 joules of heat, probably a temperature around 100-130 fahrenheit, to reach that kind of energy and- " she shook her head in the middle of her ramble, "this is really hard watching Mikan and -"

"It's much easier when you don't know the person." Anna finished for her.

Koko glanced warily at Natsume, who stood stiffly with crossed arms, a dark frown, and dark eyes. Koko could tell he was trying hard not to look away.

Mikan was shaking her head, obviously not agreeing to whatever the Alice was saying. The Alice paused in turning the dial. He then leaned in, and began to mutter things in her ear. It didn't seem to be pleasant, for Mikan's eyes were widening, and she was sending the Alice a disbelievingly look and shaking her head more enthusiastically as time went on. She began trying to writhe herself from the wires, but that proved fruitless. The Alice leaned back when Mikan wearily went slack.

After a moment, Mikan raised her hands above the table and into the screen to show her wrists bound and the skin around the wires starting to peel.

Half of the A Team winced visibly.

She rested her bound hands on the keyboard for a second. Mikan then looked directly at webcam. Slowly, so that Hotaru read the letters before they turned into asterisks, she typed in 'REDDINGTON'.

Yuu diligently wrote it down.

Hotaru's laptop screen turned red with the words, '_wrong password!'._

Anna peered over Yuu's shoulder. "Reddington...reddington…" She muttered to herself, "where have I heard that name before?"

The Alice behind Mikan seemed to have been saying some threatening things as he turned up the dial some more.

Slowly, Mikan retyped the password she knew was correct, finally allowing the Alices access to Hotaru's laptop.

Hotaru scowled darkly, and Natsume clenched his fists angrily.

Now, Anna was pacing back and forth, biting her lip, and drawing the curious stares of Koko and Kitsuneme.

As if a lightbulb lit up above her head, Anna brightened and raised an index finger. "Oh! Mr. R! His name is Reddington!"

"Who?" Kitsuneme asked.

"One of the residents of our apartment building, two floors down. Me and Mikan met him once." Anna explained, "don't ask me why."

Natsume quickly made an executive decision. "You, Kitsuneme, Mochu, go."

In less than five minutes, they were back in their apartment building, knocking on a door two floors down from their own apartments.

An elderly man opened the door, pleasantly surprised by Anna's sheepish smile. "Well, hello, Ms. Anna! To what do I owe this surprise visit?"

"Sorry, Mr. R." Anna responded, "but may I take a look around your apartment?" Kitsuneme and Mochu, from next to her, flashed their FBI badges.

"Why, I," the old man was confused, "I have nothing to hide, certainly, but what are you looking for?" He hesitantly opened the door wider to let them in.

"We'll tell you when we find it." Kitsuneme responded.

And they didn't find anything. The apartment was well furnished, with reminiscent relics from the Vietnam War and picture frames of the man's descendants. Kitsuneme stopped in the living room, however, scanning it again. Something seemed off to him. His gaze froze when he looked out the window. Across the street, he was looking at three consecutive windows, all covered with black blinds.

"Guys," he called, and Anna and Mochu gathered next to him. "The last known location of the laptop was that building right?"

They followed his gaze. Anna quickly understood where he was going, finishing his thought, "what if they never left?"

.

.

.

Back at Starbucks, once Mikan got the Alices into Hotaru's laptop, she was dragged by her chair somewhere off screen. Another Alice, sitting, then slid so that he was centered a little more to the right of the screen. He then tilted the laptop, and the A Team realized that he had two laptops in front of him. One was Hotaru's and one was his own.

"They're looking at everyone's financial records and information." Koko exclaimed.

"Good thing Hotaru made us take out cash from our bank accounts." Mochu nodded approvingly at Hotaru, "good call."

"Wait, how do you have..." Yuu started, but shook his head, "nevermind."

The Alice that stood behind Mikan leaned over the other Alice, pointing out spots on Hotaru's screen and seemingly giving the orders.

"You guys!" Came Anna's voice through the A Team's earpieces. "I think I know where Mikan is!"

Immediately, Natsume stood up, gesturing about, "Hotaru, stay with Yuu, everyone else, with me." He spoke to the earpiece, "where?"

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.

Meanwhile, back with the Alices, the moment Mikan was dragged off screen, Luna began untying her from the wires. Mikan took off her protective, now singed skin, to reveal perfectly healthy skin. They put both the protective skin and the wires in a bag. Mikan began putting back on her Alices gear. The Grifter picked up her suitcase again, unzipping it, and placing it in front of the black laptop, so that it was ready to be put away once the Engineer was done.

In two minutes, the Engineer had obtained all the information he needed and transferred it to the Alices laptop. He quickly shut down both laptops, taking out Hotaru's battery just in case. He put it away as Tsubasa took out three pieces of paper from his own coat.

Mikan bit her lip, avoiding looking at the table where Tsubasa was setting up the second scene.

The Engineer held the suitcase in his hand by the door, Luna double checked the room to make sure it was spotless, and the five were ready to go. They left the room, locking it then walked down the hallway, toward the back staircase. The door to the staircase closed behind the Alices, just as the elevator ding-ed, opening to the same floor.

Six A Team members walked onto the floor, they listened carefully as Hotaru instructed, "the apartment directly parallel to Mr. Reddington's should be labeled 2134. Hurry, my computer's been shut off."

The six quickly found apartment suite 2134. They cleared an area around Natsume as he stepped back, then kicked the door down, his gun in place.

The room was empty, save for two chairs, one table, and black curtains covering all the windows. The six milled around the place, yelling 'clear!' as they checked all the rooms.

Natsume headed straight for the table, Koko close behind.

On the table were three pieces of paper, two of which were pictures. One of Mikan and Natsume kissing, ripped in half, and Mikan and Natsume walking down the street laughing, also ripped in half. In between the two pictures was a single, typed note. It read as such:

_You call it Love, I call it Leverage._

_Remember, you attacked us first._

At the very bottom, as the signature, is the Alices symbol.

Koko barely had time to process the content before it was no longer there. In a loud crash and angry growl, Natsume had flipped the table. The force of his throw had the table landing on its side several feet away, and its contents splaying around the room.

At the sudden sound, the other four A Team members came running back, only to look questionably at a brooding Natsume and a stunned Koko.

Nonoko bent down, picking up one half of a picture with a laughing Mikan. Quickly understanding, she looks up at Natsume with an anxious expression. "They're provoking you, Natsume." She tried softly explaining, but the man marched off with tightly clenched fists.

The remaining five glanced at each other.

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.

.

Meanwhile, on the rooftop, the four Elites immediately started running towards the other end of the roof, and Youichi, after a moment's surprise, followed closely after them.

"So, how long have you been with us?" Tsubasa struck up conversation with the newbie as he sprinted.

"Three years." He responded. After a pause, as if defensively, he explained, "I was going to level up after a year but the Academy shut down." Youichi frowned. "I wanted to be an Elite."

"You're in luck, bro." Tsubasa responded, "you're in the presence of two and half."

Youichi was silent for a moment. "Can you teach me? And who's the half?"

"Luna." Mikan responded.

Luna stopped with an angry gasp, "excuse me?" and she was left behind.

Tsubasa gestured to her as she sprinted to catch up. "See, that's why."

"So where are we going now?" Youichi asks as they hop down to a connecting roof that's two levels lower.

"Headquarters." Mikan responded.

"But that's -"

"Not the real HQ in UK," Mikan rolled her eyes, "our small one in New York, duh. Come on now, Ghost, keep up."

.

.

.

"There has to be only a few places in Manhattan that sells electric fence wires." Nonoko stated. The team was back together at Starbucks. "I mean there's a billion places that sells electric fences, or builds them for people, but just the wires themselves?"

"How long is that, you think?" Yuu responds to Nonoko. He starts mumbling to himself, "three times around the wrists, her shoulders, knees and ankles…her wrists is about 15 inches, I think and her shoulders…"

"About 30 feet." Natsume curtly growled. He had quickly made the calculations in his head.

Yuu nodded slowly, "Right." He wrote it down.

"I would look at the material composition of the curtains," Anna spoke up, holding a sample of one in her hand, "but our lab…." she shrugged helplessly.

Nonoko took the material from Anna, feeling it in her hands. "It's definitely not cotton. If they had used cotton, people can still see through it." She held it up to the light, "It's very dense - dense enough that light doesn't pass through."

"I guess we can test its reaction fire, water," Anna started, taking out a notebook of her own and writing down a list, "elasticity-"

Nonoko cut in, "I've seen this type of textile before." She looked around at the rest of the team, "anyone have a lighter? A blade?"

Mochu produced a lighter, looking at the team, "what? A guy's gotta protect himself."

"...with a lighter?" Anna raised an eyebrow.

Nonoko switched the lighter on and brought the open flame to the cloth. There was no reaction. "Fire resistant." She gave Mochu back his lighter.

Natsume produced a pocket knife, but nobody raised questions.

Nonoko stroked the fabric with the tip of the blade, mimicking the actions of a real accidental cut, but again, it gave no reaction. "Cut protective." She gave Natsume back his blade. She pulled at the fabric on both sides. "Inelastic."

"So that's-" Anna furrowed her eyebrows, thinking.

"Aramid." Nonoko concluded. "It's used for firefighters. It's also what our bulletproof vests are made of."

Yuu was looking at Nonoko admiringly and Kitsuneme threw up his hands incredulously, stating, "who needs technology when you have Nonoko?"

Finally, Hotaru, who was tapping on the laptop all the while, spoke up, "I narrowed down our sellers." She turned to glance at the team as they gathered around her. "There's one source that sells both electric wire and aramid textile. Mr. Fuller of Fuller Industrial Supplies." She sent the address and information to her phone.

Natsume was the first to hop up. "Let's go." He ordered shortly whilst the rest gathered their coats, and Hotaru placed her laptop in a bag.

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.

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Back at the Alice's New York headquarters, Mikan and the rest of the Alices team were compiling a list of storages from Hotaru's monthly payments.

"Alright," Mikan checked her watch. "Engineer, stay here." Mikan ordered, "Luna and Grifter, you two go check out these storage places and destroy everything. The A team is probably on their way to our seller, so I'm gonna be over there with our buddy Mr. Fuller. Youichi and Tsubasa, go back to the apartments and clean out everything."

"But we just came from there!" Youichi protested.

"It's okay," Tsubasa patted his shoulder, "I'll teach you some fun stuff, and we can pick Mikan's codename."

Youichi went without another dissent.

As the pair walked out, Youichi inquired, "So what fun stuff are you going to teach me?"

"History." Tsubasa grinned.

Youichi groaned.

"Don't worry, it'll be fun history!" Tsubasa's voice faded as they travelled down the hall.

Meanwhile, in the equipment room, Luna and the Grifter grabbed a whole sack of explosives. Mikan, on the hand, only grabbed a high quality professional camera, one that the Alices use many a time for surveillance.

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Mikan stood on the rooftop of a shorter, worn down building overshadowed by a tall silver skyscraper. In bold aluminum plates, the title of the silver building read, Fuller Industrial Supplies.

Taking out her professional camera, she looked through the lens, adjusting it so it focused on an office on the 57th floor. She took out her phone, dialing a number and pressing the button '_activate voice encryption'_.

When Mr. Fuller picked up, she said only a simple statement, "remember what we agreed on." And hung up.

Through the lens, she watched Mr. Fuller fidget, looking around in paranoia and suspicion. He failed to look past the thirteen foot gap between the two buildings, nor did he notice the small black figure on the roof of the adjacent building.

Mikan tilted the camera down, using it as binoculars, she adjusted the lens some more to spot eight familiar figures. She smiled a sly smile.

Setting the camera down, she placed it at the edge of the roof where there was a raised slab of concrete that was level with her shoulders. She reached in her coat to produce a small Alice laptop. Within a quick few taps of the keyboard - as she had already set this up the day before - she hacked into the company's mainframe.

And she knew Hotaru was too. But Hotaru was careful. She wasn't.

Mikan purposefully left many traces of the company being hacked using Hotaru's signature. She even let timestamps, so that the company's tech expert could easily infer a connection between the hack and the visit to Mr. Fuller by questionable looking FBI agents.

And now, she'll wait. She'll wait until they make their way up to Mr. Fuller's office and she knows Natsume will snap. That was what the pictures and message was for - to send Natsume off the edge.

"So what do you say should be Mikan's codename?" Tsubasa's voice through the communicator had Mikan tuning into their conversation.

"I dunno." Youichi returned.

"You wanna know how Luna got her codename?" Tsubasa was telling Youichi.

"No." Youichi grumpily returned.

"Her code name's Soul Sucker because," Tsubasa ignored his attitude, "we were gonna call her something else Sucker, if you know what I mean," he winked, "but we had to settle with Soul."

"You should've just went with the Hag." Youichi commented innocently.

Mikan, having heard the exchange through the communicator, laughed while Tsubasa snickered. Mikan spoke through the communicator, "I knew I liked you, Youichi."

Within a few minutes, mikan focused back on Mr. Fuller's office. The A Team was forcing their way in.

.

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.

Lena, the secretary, ran in before the A Team, shaking her head and running her mouth through excuses. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Fuller - I know you're not accepting anyone - they insisted - they're -"

Natsume pushed past her, flashing his FBi badge as he said. "FBI."

"It's alright, Lena." Mr. Fuller waved a hand at his secretary. He was middle aged, with only two strands of gray hair in his slick tuss of black hair and strict face. He had many bags under his eyes, and the wrinkles in his forehead didn't seem to be going away anytime soon. He sat in front of his large silver desk, leaning back in his black leather chair, and greeting the government officials with a grim smile.

"We need to see your consumer list," Nonoko asked in her authoritative tone. "anyone who has purchased your aramid textile and electric fence wire in the past month."

The CEO glanced about his office in paranoia. And Koko sent Kitsuneme a strange look, as if to say, did you see that too?

Mr Fuller responded, "You know I'm the CEO of the company, not the seller of my products, right?"

"But you have access to the list, don't you?" Anna asked.

"Sure." He consented. Swallowing thickly, he continued, "if you show me your warrant."

The team looked at each other.

"We're on a tight schedule." Hotaru spoke up. "We need to see that list."

"And I need to see a warrant." The man responded quickly. "I pledged confidentiality to my clients."

"There is a woman's life at stake here!" Natsume shouted at the man.

Mr. Fuller locked his jaw. "The law's the law. Confidentiality or not, you still need a warrant."

Hotaru marched forward ominously. "I don't think you heard us right. A woman has been kidnapped and is being tortured right now with your materials. Now, you could give us that list right now so we can save her or we wait for that warrant and if she dies, you're responsible."

Mr. Fuller was shaken, but he wasn't stirring. "I pick waiting."

"I guess we have to go get that warrant now." Yuu spoke up in his quiet voice. The team turned to him with a look, as if he had betrayed them. But he continued, "an arrest warrant," he clarified, "for obstruction of justice and accessory to battery, also, if we have wait on it, accessory and conspiracy to murder."

Yuu's uncharacteristic threat sure made the man nervous. But not nervous enough. Mr. Fuller glanced out the window in paranoia, turning back around and standing firmly on his stance. "While you do that, I'll be calling my lawyers."

Koko gritted his teeth in frustration. He glanced warily at Natsume, who was clenching his fist and unclenching it while pacing the room.

"Good luck with that." Kitsuneme crossed his arms. "Because they can't help you much when you go to prison ten to fifteen years - minimum."

Feeling the need to regain control of his office, Mr. Fuller stood up to his full six foot two inches height. "I can't tell you anything. And if you threaten me one more time, I'm going to call security, and right after that, my lawyer."

Natsume marched up to the man. "Sure, go ahead." He shoved the man down back in his leather seat and grabbed his throat. Natsume leaned down to hiss vehemently at him. "They'll get here just in time to see you commit suicide. You were so devastated by the news of a woman being tortured with your products, you couldn't handle the media turmoil that you know will follow."

"You-you can't do that." The man uncomfortably gasped out.

"Just you watch." Natsume threatened seriously. The team looked at each other, unsure of whether or not to stop it or encourage it. Hotaru seemed to be going for encouragement because she grabbed at the office curtain.

"This will make a good noose." She commented.

Mochu glancing up at the hanging lights of his office, added on, "you can hang it right there."

Mr. Fuller's breathing quickened as he looked at all the serious faces. "Alright, alright!" The CEO yelled, breathing in deeply when Natsume let go of him. He patted himself down, fixing his thousand dollar suit. "There was a break in a couple nights ago. They took a thirty yard cord of electric fence wire and fifteen by three feet of aramid material."

"Why didn't you report it?" Hotaru asked.

The man paused, looking up at her. "This is Fuller Industrial Supplies. We make security fences. Border patrol comes to us. How is it going to look if I have a security breach? If I can't protect my own, my customers are going to think I can't protect them."

"Were there security cameras? Any clues as to who broke in?" Kitsuneme was grasping at straws.

Mr. Fuller sighed. He opened his drawer, taking out a small sheet of paper. "The security cameras caught nothing. Just shadows. They left this." It was a small business card, completely white with a black drawing on one side. The Alices symbol.

As they marched out, Koko muttered quietly, "Do you think he's telling the truth?"

"Truth or lie," Kitsuneme responded, "he's a dead end."

"He's afraid of something." Hotaru commented.

"Or someone." Natsume corrected sharply.

"Those fucking Alices!" Mochu cursed.

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.

.

Having gotten what she needed, Mikan quickly landed herself back at the Alices' Manhattan headquarters to develop the pictures - since physical documents are not as traceable as flash drives. Soon, she was off again, heading straight toward Manhattan News Journal. She had already picked a journalist.

Mark McMillan was thirty years old and struggling in the journalism business. He had landed himself an office, which was pretty high ranking, but he was about to lose it to know-it-all Phil if he doesn't get headline stories.

By headline stories, he certainly was not expecting a fit young woman sitting calmly on his desk holding an envelope of pictures.

"Are you my Christmas present?" Were the first words out of his mouth.

The woman blinked her pretty hazel eyes. She stared at him for a second, then spoke up, disregarding his comment, "The A Team is real. A project by FBI combining the best agents to create an investigative team."

"Are you an investigator?" The journalist asked, "'cause you can investigate my bed with me."

"That's...not the point…" The Alice was utterly confused, and trying very hard to ignore the bouts of laughter coming from her communicator. "Um...you're going to write a cover story about this FBI team that broke law while investigating."

"sure, I'll write about that, only because if I wrote about you," Mark wiggled his eyebrows, "it'd be in fine print." He winked.

Mikan looked at him with wide eyes, getting up from the desk and slowly inching away. Unsure of how to respond, she demanded, "just take the pictures!"

"Of us?" The reporter quickly replied. "Because we're picture perfect."

The Alice set the envelope down. She ended up saying, "Okay…" And jumping out the window.

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.

With the cash that they had taken out of their bank accounts, the A Team rented a few rooms at a rundown cheap motel for all of them. But while they reorganized their investigation, they gathered in one motel room.

While they ate Chinese take out for dinner, Mochu curiously turned on the TV. He regretted doing so as soon as he realized what the news reporter was saying.

"Fuller Industrial Supplies and Halisko Security Systems is suing our government's Federal Bureau of Investigation!" A reporter stands outside the FBI building in Manhattan, she glances behind her as many photographers, journalists and reporters gather around the doors. The frenzy heightens just as the head of FBI, flanked by secretaries and other FBI agents, attempt to walk into the building.

The reporter faces the camera again, "let's see what the head of FBI has to say about this." She joins the frenzy following the man around. "Sir! Sir! Mr. Yukihira! How do you feel about the lawsuit? Mr. Yukihira! Do you support these FBI Agents? Is it true that you have this team of so-called exceptional agents called The A Team? Do you think they have such a good track record because they break the law during investigation? Is it true that they resorted to hacking into Fuller Industrial Supplies mainframe and security system when Mr. Fuller correctly responded to their investigation by asking for a warrant, which they do not have?"

Mochu angrily changes the channel, but it was seven o'clock and they couldn't escape the news.

"Wait," Anna stops Mochu. "Is that Mr. R?"

Indeed it was. A reporter was interviewing him in front of his open apartment door. "And they didn't give a reason?" She was asking him.

"Why-" The old man was answered in confusion, "well, they were very kind, asking politely-"

"So they just barged right in without a warrant?" The reporter reiterated. "Did you ask them why?"

"Well, yes, of course." The old man answered slowly, "one man said, 'we'll tell you when we find it'."

The reporter turned back to the camera. "As you can see, these so-called government agents have a blatant disregard for privacy and the law."

"Well, uh." Mr. Reddington brought up a knobbly finger. And the reporter turned back to him with the microphone, "the lady was very nice. I met her a few weeks ago."

"Ah, more than just a blatant disregard, they have disrespect for others." The reporter dishes out falsely, "manipulating an elderly so they can come back later-"

At this point, Anna's jaw had gone slack and she was yelling at the screen, "I wasn't - that wasn't why I talked to -" She turned to her teammates, "it wasn't-"

"I know. We know." Kitsuneme nodded gently, patting her back and attempting to calm her down.

Mochu changed the channel yet again, but they couldn't escape the blasphemy.

A news anchor was now sitting at his anchor desk, stating factually, "Recent developments at the FBI headquarters in Manhattan show that some of these agents are not seeking for justice in just ways. Photographs released in the Manhattan News Journal illustrates this horrific fact." The screen switches to photograph from the outside of Mr. Fuller's office, with Natsume standing over him and obviously threatening him. Natsume had his hand on Mr. Fuller's throat and towering over him and Mr. Fuller sits cowering and gasping in his leather chair.

"How did they-" Nonoko looked around at her team members, "who took those-"

Yuu frowned, "it had to be at a rooftop of some building next to the Fuller Industrial Supplies building."

"Guys!" Koko called, standing next to Hotaru with the laptop. "over here!"

The team gathered around Hotaru and the laptop to see Narumi's face on the screen.

"Narumi!" Anna greeted, "How's the media treating you?"

The usually cheerful character smiled weakly, "not as bad as they are treating you." He paused, his smile waning away. "Be honest. Have you taken bribes?"

"What?" Nonoko let out incredulously.

"What kind of question is that?!"

Narumi glanced distractedly behind me. "Please, just answer the question."

"No!" A number of the team members exclaimed.

"Mochu?" The senior agent asked. "For the cases?"

Mochu glanced around as nine pairs of eyes zoned in on him. "Why are you all - no! I haven't!"

"Ever?"

"Never!" Mochu exerted vehemently.

"What's this about?" Yuu spoke up protectively. 

"It's just - with all this-" Narumi seemed to be having a hard time explaining. "I know you all wouldn't ever - well, the evidence say otherwise - but-"

"Spit it out!" Hotaru impatiently demanded.

"Director Yukihira has made the decision to let you go." Narumi stated grimly.

"What?!" Nonoko let out for the second time in the same ten minutes.

"You mean, we're-" Kitsuneme looked to Koko disbelievingly.

"We're being fired?" Koko spoke in the exact same stunned tone.

Hotaru remembered how the Alice looking at her laptop had accessed everyone's financial records. She scowled. "They planted it. They framed us. With all our financial records, they planted bribes and -"

"The ATM cameras place all of you at an ATM this morning. You did go to an ATM this morning, did you not?" Narumi asked.

The team turned to each other. "But we were withdrawing money-"

"The argument is, you're depositing bribe money, and withdrew some to make it look less suspicious." Narumi shrugged helplessly. "Evidence is strong. I'm sorry."

"There's no A floor." Anna muttered quietly to herself. "There's no apartments. There's no A team."

"Fucking Alices." Mochu clenched his fist, "when I see them, I swear I'm gonna-" He throttled the air.

"There's no A Team." Anna spoke a little louder, repeating the statement as if that would convince herself.

"The A Team is being shut down _and_ hunted down for fraud and civil lawsuits." Narumi confirmed. "I'm sorry. We can't help you - we're actually going to arrest you on sight." he waited a beat, but the team members were too stunned to respond. "This is goodbye." He sighed once more, then clicked off.

The team sat quietly in stunned silence as the weight of all that had happened in one day began to sink in.

"We're no longer FBI agents." Koko listed wearily.

"Our floor has been disintegrated." Nonoko frowned deeply. "And my lab - my hologram desk - my," she sniffed. "thousand dollar microscope."

"Our apartments has been compromised." Anna sighed. "All those clothes, and my flannel bed sheets."

"Mikan." That was all Natsume had to say.

"there's an arrest warrant out for us." Kitsuneme scowled.

"fucking stole my laptop." Hotaru grumbled, narrowing her eyes.

"Those damn Alices!" Mochu exclaimed for the third time that day.

"Rough day." Yuu summarized, shaking his head.

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**A/N:**I updated before february! YAY! But part two is barely written, so, sorry but it'll take a while.

I felt bad Youichi never got to be a part of this (or I don't remember) so I added him in.

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**(Then I couldn't resist making a blooper about a small Youichi)**

The director could barely walk ten steps without being bombarded with cameramen and actors/actresses.

"Yeah, yeah," she was nodding to one of the unnamed Alices. "Just two more scenes and you're done. Yeah, look pretty-"

"But I have that Alice outfit on-" The extra cuts in.

"Right, right, sorry, yeah. I know it's been a long few days of filming, just stick with me okay? It's one more day for you." The director reassures him. She then turns around, spotting something near her legs. She looks down to see a small child looking up at her with wide eyes.

She bends down his height, and he keeps his bright blue eyes trained on her. She cocks her head, smiling, "Hi, what's your name?"

"Youichi." He answers cutely.

The director opens her mouth to respond but she's interrupted by a statement, "director?"

She stands up, seeing that a cameraman addressed her. "Hey, what's up?"

"We have three cameras on the last scene right?" He asks.

The director responds, "uh, the helicopter?" When the cameraman shakes his head, she quickly amended, "oh when the A Team and Mikan talk, yeah."

"But not all at the same time." The cameraman stated in questionable tone, "because one camera will catch the other camera in the scene."

"We might have to film the same scene twice." The director thoughtfully taps her chin, She checks her watch, frowning at the time. She then leads the cameraman onto the set, "or you know what, we can just have two." Before he asked which ones, she continued, "I think right here." She bends down to look at the perspective. When she looked up at the cameraman, he was staring oddly at something behind her.

She turns to see Youichi with his head tilted to the side and staring at her. "Uh-" The director starts saying, but again she is interrupted.

"Sorry, where is the second camera?"

The director stands up, walking around the set thoughtfully, then stopping. "About right here. I want you to catch Mikan and Natsume's interaction here, but have glimpses of the rest of the team."

The cameraman nods, jotting down notes in his clipboard.

The director absentmindedly walks away, but is caught by movement by her leg. She looks down again to see Youichi staring at her.

She bends down again. Directly, she asked him, "are you lost?"

He shakes his head.

"Who did you come with?"

Youichi doesn't respond, only stares at her unblinkingly.

She blinked. "Right." She stands up, searching the busy set. "Um…." Unsure of what else to do, she raises her voice loud, "WHOSE CHILD IS THIS? HIS NAME IS YOUICHI!"

The set pauses, turning to her.

"So this is what power feels like." She mutters to herself.

Mikan comes running, exclaiming, "Oh my gosh! Youichi!" Once she arrived next to the little boy, she ruffles his hair, "I've been looking everywhere for you!" He scowls at her, ducking her hand as she attempts to ruffle up his hair some more.

The director raises a brow at her, "he yours?"

Without answering the question, Mikan responded, "I'm _sooo _sorry." Mikan apologizes, "he's harmless, he's just...really curious."

The director nods slowly, then looks down at the boy, smiling. "Any other day you could follow me around, but today's really hectic. I just don't want you to get hurt, okay?"

The boy, who didn't seem to have blinked the entire time, nods slowly.

"MIKAN HAS A CHILD?!" Mochu exclaims loudly as he watched the interaction.

And who comes running but the one and only Natsume Hyuuga.

His expression was dubious as he stared between Mikan and Youichi. Youichi, sensing the stare, turns around and stares at Natsume back.

"DUDE! So you two like had an off-set kinda thing? I thought that was - wait.." Koko pointed between Mikan and Natsume, looking half smug and half confused.

Mikan turns around at the ruckus and the director walks away shaking her head and sighing.

"You two were the perfect casting because you so did it before we even started filming!" Kitsuneme exclaimed.

Mikan blinks, "wait- what? No, Natsume's not the father."

Natsume's starting come back to reality and sends Mikan a dark look. He bends down, addressing the boy, "how old are you?"

A slight smile lights up his face as Youichi spoke, "six."

Natsume nods slowly, then stands up and sends Mikan another dark look. "Who the hell got you pregnant at sixteen?"

Koko gasps dramatically, turning to Kitsuneme who had the same expression, "TEENAGE PREGNANCY!?"

And Luna comes running, "WHAT WHERE?! WHO DO I LAUGH AT?!"

Mikan's eyes widened, her hands holding up in surrender. "Wait - wait - okay - hold on- maybe I should've started with: I'm not the mother."

Natsume visibly breaths out a long breath.

Mikan looks sheepish as the crowd that gathered dissipates.

Youichi suddenly raises an arm, pointing at Natsume. He looks up at Mikan as he spoke, "I like him."

Mikan smiles kindly as she looked down at the boy, "oh you do?" She then turns to an all-too-bright grin, "have fun!"

Natsume's eyes widened a fraction of an inch, looking puzzled when Mikan walked away. "Wait…" He looked back at the boy, who was staring at him with unblinkingly with disturbingly wide eyes. He attempted to walk away too, but with a glance back, noticed that the boy was following. "What the...polka, come back here…!"


	13. 10: PART TWO

"The princess is almost ready, Master." The Alice bent down to one knee in the dim room to the man in the shadows.

"Almost?" The man lowly questioned.

"Twenty four hours, sir." The Alice shiveringly bowed his head.

The Master inclined his head only slightly, curtly ordering, "you're dismissed." The man scrambled to his feet and quickly marched out.

The Master turned his head to Persona, who was standing next to him. "Mikan?"

"I gave her a week, Master." Persona calmly replied, "she'll be done in a few days."

"No," The Master disagreed, "she'll be done in twenty four hours, at the same time as the Princess."

"Sir?"

The Master turned his head again to give his right hand man a glare.

"Yes, sir." Persona walked out of the room.

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**The A Team**

_Aspirator_

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"Okay, let's just refocus." Yuu tried to keep a positive attitude. "I think we still have something - you know, we have to find Mikan. So there's that." He glanced around. Koko had his forehead on the wooden desk, half asleep. Mochu was idly flipping through channels on the TV. Kitsuneme was throwing random things at the wall. Anna was looking at her small collection of clothes and sighing. Hotaru was examining the ear piece that belonged to the Alices. Yuu smiled briefly. At least Nonoko and Natsume were paying attention. "If we could just ignore the mean people on TV and continue our investigation, we'll be just fine-"

"Damn, y'all calm down!" Mochu stood up and began yelling at the poor TV. On it was a reporter talking to the camera as a protest crowd gathers in front of the FBI building. "We putting away murderers and this is how you thank us!?"

Yuu nodded, mostly to himself. "Okay, thanks for trying." he muttered as he turned away.

Natsume watched his teammate plopped down on a sofa with a sigh. He shook his head. He stood up abruptly, grabbing the remote and turning off the TV, eliciting a 'hey!' from Mochu. As he passed by Kitsuneme, he snatched random things out of his hands and threw it on the ground. He then pulled Koko's chair, causing him to stumble and wake up abruptly. He got the team's attention.

He then proceeded to walk towards the door.

Hotaru was the one who asked the question. "Where are you going?"

"To find Mikan." He responded, opening the door. He sent a glance back to give Yuu a look. His speech wasn't in vain after all.

The team hastily scrambled to their feet.

As Yuu stood up with a smile, Natsume held the door open wider - and with a whzzt, a bullet buried itself in Yuu's abdomen.

Natsume slammed the door close as the team ducked. Seeing as a motel door wasn't quite built to withstand open fire, a torrent of holes were drilled in it and the bullets buried themselves at the opposite wall. Nonoko and Anna immediately crawled towards Yuu. He was collapsed in his chair, breathing heavily, and holding his wound, blood seeping endlessly through his fingers.

Bundling some of the bedsheets, Nonoko pressed it against Yuu's wound, grabbing his other hand and pulling him down to the ground with them.

"There's a window in the bathroom!" Kitsuneme exclaimed, leading the crawling team towards the bathroom.

As soon as they were out of bullet range, they each stood up. Kitsuneme, the first in line, was also the first to be hit when the aforementioned exploded in glass as a black figure catapulted in. At least Natsume was second in line and ready to defend his teammate.

It was an Alice, for sure, with the signature black get up and black mask. Mochu, with his arms guarding the scientists of the team, pushed them back to the room.

The front door of the motel room fell from its frame as another Alice - a female one, judging from the fitted material hugging her curves - entered the fight.

Mochu ended up jumping over the scientists and wounded team member to land on their other side and engage the enemy.

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Tsubasa hovered over Mikan as they listened to the fight through Youichi's communicator.

"Do you think Youichi'll be fine?" Mikan asked the other Elite.

"Are you serious right now?" Tsubasa asked dryly.

"I taught him some new moves." Mikan revealed proudly.

"Oh, so that's why he's been springing ambushes on me." Tsubasa muttered as he rubbed his shoulder. His eyes widened, "wait a second...you told him about my Achilles' heel didn't you?"

Mikan sniggered evilly, evading the question.

Meanwhile, Luna sat behind them. She was quiet now that she's happily cleaning her sniper gun.

"You sent in our level ones." Tsubasa commented. "what's your play?"

"Motivation." Mikan casually commented. She looked up at a doubtful Tsubasa. "Geez, Tsubasa, are you questioning me?"

"Yes." Tsubasa responded with a straight face.

Mikan sighed. "Okay. Eventually, they're gonna need to get some supplies, and at this point they can't go to a friend or FBI because they're fired and defamed. So they're gonna tap into their own hidden storage places. And we follow them and -"

"Can't we kill them yet?" Luna whined, now that the gun was clean. "This whole chess thing is so boring! Just kill them, start up some Clinton scandal for all of them, and then blow up everything!"

The two other Elites stared at her.

Mikan gritted her teeth. "But you're not in charge, so we're gonna do that whole 'chess thing'."

"Ugh, I can't believe I'm stuck with you two geeks." Luna rolled her eyes. "I wanted to go to the club on Friday."

The two Elites sighed, turned back to each other, and continued their conversation. "So while we wait for them to go to those storage places…" Tsubasa led Mikan on to her explanation.

"We're gonna go to the ones we found so far." Mikan finished.

"And I get to blow them up right?" Luna grinned ecstatically. She had dropped the gun and went for the grenades.

Again, both Mikan and Tsubasa stared at her. Mikan offered up pink pills from a shelf to her side. "Here, take a chill pill." when Luna frowned at her, she amended, "actually take ten."

"But that'll knock me out." Luna made a face.

"Exactly." Mikan responded and Tsubasa snickered.

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The woman Alice kicked hard at Hotaru's abdomen, causing her to rear back and slam into the wall. The adversary then delivered a blow to Mochu's head to knock him out of the way. In a matter of minutes she had sprinted out the door, and started the engine of a black Acura.

At the same time, the Alice combating with Natsume and Kitsuneme was also making his escape. He produced a small blade that Natsume quickly wrestled out of his hand - but not before delivering a blow to the ex-FBI agent's forehead with the handle of the knife.

Natsume stumbled back, his hand reflexively covering his head wound. He shook his head, but it had only made him dizzier.

Once the knife was dropped on the ground, the Alice dove for the knife just as Kitsuneme dove for his gun lying a few feet away. The Alice curiously pocketed the knife rather than use it, but was faced with the barrel of Kitsuneme's gun. He was unfazed. He reacted immediately by grabbing Kitsuneme's wrist, pulling his arm to the left, and then twisting. Kitsuneme held on tightly, but the Alice was not in the mood to play tug of war. He elbowed Kitsuneme's face.

The moment Kitsuneme reared back, the Alice was running to the window. Koko tried to interfere, but he ended up being kneed repeatedly in the gut. Within the next minutes, the Alice was jumping out the window and hopping in the passenger seat of the black Acura. The male Alice had just barely closed the door before the car sped away.

They not only left the A Team in the dust, but also nursing their wounds. Kitsuneme was rubbing a considerable bruise starting to form on right cheek. Natsume, too, had a bruise, but it was on his forehead. Koko was bent over on the ground groaning. Hotaru was holding her own - attempting to stand up, but with a wince. Yuu was barely holding on as Anna and Nonoko tried to keep him awake and apply pressure to his wound.

"What the fuck was the point of that?" Mochu growled when he recovered. His voice came out muffled as he sat with his knees to his chest and his head buried in his hands.

"Why would they ambush us, and then run away?" Kitsuneme frowned, following up Mochu's question.

"I don't know." Anna said as she tied the already soaked bed sheets more securely around Yuu's waist.

Nonoko, meanwhile, was muttering, "Yuu, look at me. Stay with me, okay? You're gonna be fine. Don't think about it. We're gonna get some help."

"Are we?" Yuu weakly whispered, to the point where he was mouthing.

Anna looked up at Natsume first, then Hotaru.

"We have to go to a doctor." Koko stood up falteringly.

"We can't just go to any doctor…" Kitsuneme trailed off as his eyes centered on Hotaru.

She blinked in surprise when, one by one, seven pairs of eyes landed on her. She scowled at them. "I'm not a doctor."

"No, but your brother is." Kitsuneme voiced the thought that occurred to him.

"Oh, hell no." Hotaru immediately reacted.

"We have to, Hotaru." Anna tried to reason with her.

"Over my dead body." She was stubborn.

"How about Yuu's?" Nonoko looked up at Hotaru. With that, she saw a break in Hotaru's frown.

Hotaru was silent.

Suddenly, Natsume was in front of Yuu. Even his blank expression was full of concern now. "Yuu? Hey - Tobita - Hey!" His voice grew more urgent with each word he uttered.

The team gathered around their fallen member. Yuu's eyes were starting to roll back, his eyelids coming down heavily. He tried to blink, but his eyelids only moved up a millimeter before moving back down in slow motion.

Anxiously, Nonoko tended to the man, calling out to him and talking to him.

"He's lost a lot of blood!" Anna told Natsume at first, but shifted her eyes to Hotaru. "We have to go to a doctor!" She repeated Koko's earlier concern with even more urgency now.

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"We're calling you M." Tsubasa marched up to Mikan with Youichi close behind him. "Until we get back to headquarters and you get an official codename, we're calling you M."

"That's a little obvious, isn't it?" Mikan brought up her attitude hands.

"Not for Mikan." Tsubasa explained. "For Mom."

Now she was bringing in the attitude face. "Excuse me?"

"I explained to him the whole Elite family thing," Tsubasa grinned, pulling in Youichi by the arm and clapping an arm over his shoulders. Youichi attempted to wiggle out of his grasp, scrunching his face in disgust. "He agreed to be the baby. So you're the mom, because you've been fussing over him."

"You agreed to that?" Mikan looked to a struggling Youichi in disbelief.

With a grunt, he weaved out of the Elites chokehold. "No - kind of." Youichi looked away, scratching the back of his neck, "he said it was an Elites so I just...kind of..." He shrugged, trying to reason. "I didn't _agree_."

"He did." Tsubasa grinned his mischievous grin.

Mikan shook her head, "come on, buddy," she motion for Youichi to run to her side, "Mommy'll protect you from the big mean bully."

"No, NO." Youichi growled sternly. "No mommy, no buddy - just - just M."

"Okie." Mikan grinned the same mischievous grin plastered on Tsubasa's face. She walked away, but not before uttering, "buddy."

"Why don't _we_ get initiated into the Elites clique?" The Grifter asked the other Level one.

The Engineer shrugged. "Don't ask me, I've been stuck behind the computer all day."

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"You've got to be shitting me."

Hotaru was not happy. But then again, they were breaking into her estranged brother's apartment on the Upper East Side.

"It's genius." Koko tried to pat the scientist's back but his hand only met air.

Hotaru was not convinced. "You mean idiotic?"

"Look, look." Kitsuneme tried to throw his arm over her shoulders but he, too, met air. He crossed his arms instead. "We can't waltz in the FBI building - obviously - and we don't know where Dr. Imai goes, so his house is our next best option."

"If I were him and my phone told me someone be breaking in my house, I'd be running home like my life depended on it." Mochu finished. "Ya know, protectin' my porn stash and all-" at Hotaru's glare, he added quickly, "not that I'm saying your bro got a little - but let's be honest, every dude has one."

At this point, Nonoko looked at the unconscious Yuu with a disgusted yet thoughtful expression. Mochu snickered when he realized what she was thinking.

"But we're going to climb up balconies, like that's not suspicious." Even Anna was slightly skeptical.

"He lives on the sixteenth floor - duh." Kitsuneme shook his head at her, as if she was raining on his parade.

"What are you saying - we walk in the front door?" Koko scoffed, his voice incredulous.

"Anna, Anna, Anna." Mochu mimicked Kitsuneme, shaking his head disapprovingly. His stopped, however, with furrowed eyebrows, when Anna was walking away.

"Wait - where did…" The trio noticed the rest of the team had left already. Apparently, Natsume had gotten them in the front door, with Yuu on his back, Nonoko and Hotaru right after him, and Anna smugly trailing behind.

The eight crowded around the right penthouse door as Hotaru picked the lock.

Mochu raised his brow suggestively as a young woman decked out in brand names strutted by. "'sup girl."

The young lady picked up her pace, strutting past quicker with wide eyes.

"Okay." Hotaru spoke gruffly when she got the door to open, and the agents piled in. The Three Musketeers made a beeline for the kitchen - until Anna and Nonoko sent them a reprimanding glare. They changed their course to the sofa - until Hotaru and Natsume kicked them off to place Yuu there.

Kitsuneme, Mochu, and Koko ended up sitting on the hardwood floor with pouty faces. Nonoko fussed over Yuu's wound as Anna peeked at it from beside her. Hotaru was toying on her phone, trying to send more urgent messages to get her brother to come home. Natsume was pacing back and forth.

After a long period of ten minutes, they finally heard the front door open. The Three Musketeers stood up hastily, Natsume stopped pacing, and Hotaru crossed her arms.

Dr. Imai swung the door open, eyes meeting first and foremost with his little sister. Slowly, deliberately, he shut the door behind him. His face was as emotionless and unreadable as hers. He only uttered one reaction, "interesting."

"Very." Hotaru dryly and irritably responded.

"All of you are here." Dr. Imai perceived, eyes scanning over the team, pausing at Yuu's unconscious body. He stepped closer with a long stride. "Why am I not calling Jinno right now?"

Hotaru scowled. "A man's dying on your thousand dollar couch and you're threatening to call the authorities? You're a callous bastard."

"You have impossible expectations." The other Imai shot back. "Am I supposed to help you now that you broke into my apartment, stained my thousand dollar couch, and called me names?"

"I didn't expect shit from you." Hotaru snarled. "You were never the helpful type."

"They why the hell are you standing on my rug?"

Before the siblings could continue their quarrel, Koko cut in slowly and cautiously. He felt as if he was putting his hand into a full blown fire. "Uh...can we come back to reality where the aforementioned man is still dying?"

Dr. Imai's lips set into a grim line. He stood, assessing the situation for a second. It was as if he was calculating the consequences and rewards of helping them in his head.

"If it takes you that long to make a decision," Hotaru impatiently growled, "then how did you ever finish the medical exam in time?"

"Hotaru!" Anna called out suddenly through gritted teeth. When Hotaru snapped to her, she quietly uttered, now under Hotaru's mean stare, "I don't think that's helping…"

Ignoring her, Dr. Imai marched to the kitchen. He easily reached the top cabinet to pull out a first aid kit. He brought it to the living room, placing it on the coffee table and bending to one knee next to Yuu. Unraveling the bandages, he took a look at the wound.

Though curious, the team automatically backed away, leaving him space.

"It looks like he lost a lot of blood." The doctor finally spoke up.

"Really." Hotaru dryly commented, her gaze shifting to the drenched bedsheets and clothing. "I never would've guessed."

The older Imai breathed in deeply as if to repress a comeback. Calmly, he responded, "and I thought you grew out of your childish antics." Dr. Imai looked up at Hotaru's dark face. "I thought wrong."

"As you always do." Hotaru smoothly countered.

Koko muttered quietly to Kitsuneme, "have you ever seen her so talkative?"

Kitsuneme shook his head. "Now I understand why she isn't."

Dr. Imai didn't have a response for his sister's sharp remark. Instead, he marched back to the kitchen for a paper towel. He placed the stack on the coffee table. Again, he marched away, into a long hallway, possibly leading into his bedroom or other private rooms.

Hotaru impatiently tapped her foot and the team looked around each other. There was an awkward, tense silence for the next five minutes.

Finally, the doctor emerged with a surgical equipment. He again kneeled next to the unconscious team member. He set up his equipment. After putting on gloves, he started working on extracting the bullet. He stated as he worked. "I can fix up his wound, but I don't have extra blood lying around my penthouse. If he was awake, chocolate could boost red blood cell reproduction and increase his blood level, but for now, there's nothing I can do."

"Mochu." Hotaru cued.

"huh?" Mochu looked up, startled. When Anna made gestured, he looked down to his hoodie. "Oh, right." He produced a packet of blood from under his hoodie.

Dr. Imai glanced at him with raised eyebrows. Again, he commented, "Interesting." After a pause, he asked, "is that the right blood type?"

"I'm not as careless as you." Hotaru spit out in annoyance, as if the mere question offended her.

"A yes would've sufficed." The older brother sharply responded.

With quick, methodical movements, the doctor had taken out the metal object and sewn up Yuu's abdomen. He also performed a blood transfusion, letting blood flow through an IV into Yuu's body.

"He should regain consciousness in a few hours." Dr. Imai instructed.

There was no response. Hotaru only offered up cold indifference.

Quietly, Nonoko spoke up haltingly. "Um...thank you." She smiled politely, "Dr. Imai. For helping."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. The team save for the Imai's and Hyuuga jumped visibly.

"Dr. Imai!" Came a very familiar voice. "It's Agent Jinno. Can we take a look in your apartment?"

Natsume hastily picked up Yuu's body, removing the IV. The rest of the team looked at each other in stunned and panicked silence. All save for Hotaru, who was sending her brother an accusatory stare.

"I didn't tell anyone." he defended himself, then paused. "...Except-"

"Oh, so you lied." Hotaru cut in. "Why am I not surprised?"

After a grim pause, Dr. Imai spoke up again. "I thought she could be trusted." the doctor actually seemed upset.

"Just like how I thought you could be trusted?" Hotaru responded coldly.

Dr. Imai shut his mouth. He turned abruptly to the door.

"Hotaru, c'mon." Nonoko gently nudged as she stood on the man's balcony. Most of the team was already on their way down. Natsume, of course, was first with Yuu on his back.

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To say Mikan was delighted to break into the journalist's office and to find it empty this time is an understatement. She was ecstatic.

She happily dropped the package on his desk and turned around to leave. No awkwardness, just her dropping off a package -

"I knew you'd come back." Mark grinned by the door. "So how 'bout that irresistible offer? You know, about my bed?"

Mikan suppressed a 'dammit'. She should've knocked on the wood desk before leaving. She turned around slowly. She grimaced. "Look, um, this," Mikan pointed between the two of them, "we're not happening." And with that, she popped out the window before he could retort with anymore horrible pick up lines.

When she landed back in the Alice's Manhattan hub, she was not as welcomed as she thought she would be. She walked in and Tsubasa walked right past her with a disapproving look. Apparently, he got the Grifter and Engineer in on it too, because they just shook their heads at her when she passed by.

"What?" Mikan looked around cluelessly. The two Level Ones sighed at her and turned back to their stuff.

Mikan knows it's bad when she resorts to asking Luna. She called her attention, "Luna? Why do I feel like I just punched a baby?"

The half-Elite looked up. At least _she_ wasn't giving her a disapproving look. She shrugged, "Tsubasa told me to say, you crushed his soul." Luna stated shortly, going back to playing with her gun.

Seeing as his plan hadn't worked out perfectly, Tsubasa quickly amended the damage. "All his hopes and dreams…" Tsubasa uttered as he walked by her again.

The Elite crossed her arms. "Really? Is this revenge for telling Youichi your Achilles heel?"

"You didn't just break his heart." Tsubasa hung his head in mock sadness, walking by from the other direction. "You ripped it apart." He mimicked the action with his hands theatrically.

Mikan threw up her hands. She rolled her eyes at her Elite brother. "Tsubasa, you know you're walking in circles right? And the only thing in that direction is the storage closet."

"So?" He called back, proudly continuing his pace, "maybe I need to get a knife...or something."

"This is not a funny joke!" Mikan's voice rose as Tsubasa's figure disappeared into the said storage closet.

.

.

.

"Tsubasa." Mikan called into her communicator as she eyed the stationary green dot on her watch. The screen on her watch showed a map with a stationary green dot and a quickly approaching red dot. The red dot was her. She stopped a building short of the green dot and looked up.

"Tsubasa, please tell me you're taking a food break." Mikan muttered dryly as she looked at the most famous barbeque place, with a butcher shop in the back, in New York City.

"Are you kidding?" Came Tsubasa's voice. He was certainly inside the said store. "I am on a mission." He stated with the sort of voice that would've been accompanied with a fist hitting the table. But, well, his hands were a little busy. He grabbed the next pork rib, gobbling it down quickly, and mouthing to the passing waiter that refilled his cup of water, "This is SO good!"

He would've gotten away with it, too, if the windows weren't clear glass and Mikan didn't have eyes of a hawk. She responded instead, "Are you going to pay for that?"

Tsubasa scoffed as he wiped his mouth and hands on a napkin. "Yes, of course." He stood up and walked towards the back. He gave the team enough time to get a head start on wherever they're going. Especially since the back is starting to narrow down to a single hallway.

"Hotaru." Koko called as he looked around his with wide eyes. They had ventured to the butcher shop part of the store. "Hotaru…" His voice shook when he passed a frightened boar hanging by his toes.

"What?!" Hotaru stopped and send him an annoyed glare.

"Please tell me you can turn raw meat into money."

"Don't be absurd." Hotaru rolled her eyes, facing the front again to move forward. "Anybody can turn raw meat into money."

"Really?" Koko tilted his head with wide eyes.

"You just sell it." The technician deadpanned.

"Oh." Now he felt dumb. He shut his mouth for the rest of the journey as they passed through another cooler containing horrifying animals to stop at a high-tech safe door. It was the only Hotaru-like thing they've seen in a while.

As Hotaru calmly passed at least five safe guards – "Is that a hair scanner?" "WHOA IT'S INSPECTING YOUR TONGUE!" "Did it just – your – body measurements? Boy, I need one of those."

Natsume, who was bringing up the rear of the pack quite suddenly whipped around. Sharply, he scanned the area behind him. All he saw were icicles and dead animals.

"Natsume?" Yuu's soft voice questioned, "Something wrong?"

He shook his head, but his eyes lingered behind him. "Thought I saw a shadow move."

Yuu looked up at the fluorescent lights with a frown. "Shadows don't move if the lights aren't moving."

Natsume grunted agreeably. He turned back forwards as the crowd began to pile in the now open safe.

Tsubasa breathed easier. He took out a device from his pocket. It was a thin screen. He moved closer. Finding that shadows wouldn't suffice the closer he got to the team, he climbed up on the bars that held slaughtered animals captive. He looked down on two blonde heads, apparently kicked out from the safe.

"How was I supposed to know Hotaru kept everything she invented since she was twelve?" One said defensively to the other.

On the screen in his hands, the x-ray imaging caught anything made of a certain metal and highlighted it blue. There was a lot of it. He tapped on a side of the screen for a menu and control panel to show up. He began turning dials then pressing, "go".

When nothing happened, he muttered into the ear piece, "It's been too long since we've been in New York."

"What?" came Mikan's off-guard answer.

Tsubasa started banging the device against his hand – quietly of course. "It's not working."

"Have you tried turning it off and on again?"

"That's what Obama did with the government and we're still fighting about Obamacare, aren't we?" Tsubasa responded.

"You know I hate politics." Mikan responded in a disapproving tone.

It was a good thing the two blondes under him were too busy arguing with each other. He slammed the device against the ceiling.

Koko and Kitsuneme paused. "Did you hear something?" They didn't have time to investigate, however, for the safe seemed to have exploded.

Acting on training and reflexes, the pair slammed themselves on the ground with their hands on their head.

"Get up, dumbasses." Ordered their teammate. The pair looked up and behind them to see a pissed Hotaru.

"What's – what's –" Koko scrambled to his feet. He felt a little off balanced. With a hand to his right ear, he took out his earpiece, to find it smoking, black, and extremely hot. He dropped it with a hiss.

"We got company." Natsume appeared behind her, beating the smoke away with his hand.

"But there was –" Kitsuneme pointed at the smoke safe. The other hand was touching his ear. He dug a finger in his ear to feel minute scars where his ear piece was.

"All my electronics combusted." Hotaru scowled.

Tsubasa quickly slid back so he was back in the shadows and behind a giant boar. He had to watch out for the red-eyed one.

Natsume scanned the area again as he ushered the rest of the team out.

Back at headquarters, Mikan switched gears once she knew Tsubasa was on his way back. Mikan minimized the window with a GPS tracking on Tsubasa's location. She opened a separate window, turning on Youichi's communicator. She was listening in on the A Team's conversation.

"Why can't Hotaru stash her stuff in normal places?" Koko was whining. "Like I put some cash under the Statue of Liberty."

Mikan grinned. She slapped the Engineer, who was sitting next to her slouched and breathing suspiciously heavily. He sat up, startled, and shaking his head groggily. "I wasn't sleeping!" Was his first reaction.

Meanwhile, Mochu pitched in to the conversation, "Oh yeah, you told me something like that a few months ago so I got my own treasure trove – you're never guess -"

"The Lincoln Memorial." Anna cut in.

"How'd you know?"

The Elite paid the less skilled Alice no attention. She dialed up the volume. "Take notes!" She ordered the Engineer.

"You're welcome." Mikan turned to see a smug Youichi peering over her shoulder.

She scoffed, "please, don't act like you left your communicator with the enemy on purpose and now that it's so useful, it's suddenly what you were planning all along."

"That wasn't what I was gonna say…" Youichi averted his gaze.

"Mhm." Mikan hummed dubiously.

.

.

.

Needing to lick their wounds, the A Team gathered in an abandoned building.

Koko was pacing. Anna and Nonoko were sitting on the ground, weary and distraught. Yuu was holding his wound. Hotaru was on the computer. Natsume had his head in his hands. Kitsuneme and Mochu were….being Kitsuneme and Mochu.

Koko stopped pacing. "Wait a second. Dr. Imai's not stupid."

"Have you seen him when he was ten?" Hotaru questioned sardonically.

"He said 'she'." Koko was sharp when it came to words. "He contacted a female. So he can't have contacted Jinno directly."

"Probably Luna, then, or some lady at the Bureau." Kitsuneme shrugged.

"He would know - he said, he thought she knew us." Koko waved his hands around to try to emphasize his point. "He thought it - she didn't have to convince him. It can't be Luna because Luna would have to convince him."

"Are you saying-" Nonoko started.

Just like the old days, Anna finished her sentence, "Mikan was the one who approached Dr. Imai?"

"Who else?" Koko asked them. They had no answer. Seeing as he was on a roll, he continued, "Don't you see? Every attack on us it's all set up for us. _We_ ran into it. They're using what _we_ did against us. None of it was forced. _We_ went to the ATM. _We _decided to go to Dr. Imai. _We_ went to the Fuller building out of our own investigation. We're looking at someone who can predict our every step."

"Mikan knows us well." Yuu thought aloud.

Kitsuneme spoke up, "they're using Mikan!"

"Since they used Mikan to get into Hotaru's computer," Anna nodded along, "they must be using her to track us down."

"We'll just have to find her to stop them!" Nonoko brightened up, as if she found the cure to cancer.

"Really?" Hotaru glared at the ladies, "what do you think we've been doing for the past three days?"

Koko slapped his forehead, "are you listening to yourselves?!"

The team looked at him with expressions like that of, what do you mean?

"What do you think they're doing, breathing down her neck as she planned every step?" Koko asked.

"Yeah," Anna nodded loyally. "Sounds about right."

"How do you think they've been so successful? Mikan's been masterminding this! She knows us - and she knows all our moves! Remember what she said about an Alice mission?" Koko glanced around as the faces turned to disbelief. He looked to Hotaru for help, "didn't you think she was lying - a little? At least? You know her -"

"We told her not to do it." Hotaru answered indirectly.

"And when does Mikan ever listen?" Koko shot back.

There was a tense silence. Nonoko and Anna shook their heads. Kitsuneme gave his friend a 'you're crazy' look. Hotaru and Natsume gave no indication of facial expression as always - but it didn't matter, their eyes told it all.

"Doesn't it make sense?" Koko was asking for support, someone to second him, anything.

"Koko, man." Mochu shook his head. "Go eat something - you're turning into Jinno."

"No, I'm serious," Koko looked around at their inattentivity. "guys-" They shook their heads at him. But one pair of eyes stayed rigid on his form. "Natsume?"

Koko could see it in his eyes. Natsume didn't believe it for a second. "Just shut the fuck up."

Koko slumped in his chair. "Okay fine," he conceded dejectedly. "So what now? We sit around and wait for another ambush?"

"No we go find them." Natsume stood up.

"Oh okay," Koko nodded agreeably, his sarcastic edge coming out. "Yeah, we'll go drop the Alices' mansion and have some tea in their little pavilion - HOW!?"

Natsume sat back down. "At least I'm trying to bite not just barking my damn head off." He uttered.

"Yeah, biting at the air." Koko retorted. "There's nothing to bite! I'm not just barking, I'm intelligently barking."

"Oh, you call dishing up the craziest idea out there intelligent?" Kitsuneme spoke up, entering the conversation.

"Yeah like you know anything about intelligence." Koko argued.

Mochu turned around with an defensive exclamation, "Bro!"

"Hey!" Anna entered the turmoil. "Who are you to say anything about Kits' intelligence?"

All at the same time, Anna, Mochu, Kitsuneme, and Koko started arguing with each other. Even Natsume entered a comeback once or twice.

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.

.

Mikan had forgotten to turn off the eavesdropping device once they got their check list. Now, they were too interested in the conversation to turn it off.

"Was that your plan?" Luna asked, a smirk on her lips. "I love it. It's cruel."

Mikan didn't look at her, but sighed.

Tsubasa walked up, tapping Mikan's shoulder. "Persona's here."

She immediately mutes her computer, turning around, as Luna stands to attention.

Persona walks in. He turns on the TV, showing the news report. They all watch it for two minutes. He turns it off.

"Three days." He uttered in his low, slithery voice. "That's all you've done in three days?"

"Didn't you hear them? They're calling for their heads!" Mikan gestured to the TV incredulously. "And I already took all their money! And you know how many storage places Hotaru has? I'm lucky enough to find half of them by now!"

Persona remained undeterred."That's only half the assignment."

"You gave me a week," Mikan retorted, "and three days is not even half of a week."

"Don't you argue, you-" Persona growled, then straightened. "From now on, you have 24 hours. Crush them."

"But you-" Mikan piped again, stopping when she was shot three looks. One warning look from Tsubasa, a judgmental raise of the brow from Luna, and a glare from Persona.

With a dramatic whirl, Persona marched off.

"One day?" Mikan muttered to herself. "What's the rush?"

"It's been like that recently." Tsubasa softly consoled her, "Master would assign us missions, then grow impatient and we'd have to hurry it up. By now, most of us plan the mission for half the time they tell us it should take, just in case."

"Well?" Luna crossed her arms, "what's the plan?"

Biting her lip, Mikan did some mental calculations. She turned, typing on her computer and pulling up a lot of addresses. She rapped her fingers on the table thoughtfully. Then, after five minutes of anticipated silence, she turned around and faced her fellow Elites.

"Okay. Tsubasa," She looked up at her friend, "you're going to destroy all their belongings. Everyone's."

"There's eight of them." Tsubasa frowned dubiously, "Do you know how many places one person moves in a lifetime? How much stuff they accumulate? And eight, nonetheless! I doubt I'd get all of their belongings burned in twenty four hours."

"No," Mikan sighed, "Their whole existence needs to be erased and every last eraser or cup they own, everything. And their facebooks, and twitter, and Instagrams. Even their digital existence."

Tsubasa's jaw dropped, "that's even worse!" He then straightened, "how are you going to take their names off the cases they closed at the FBI? Or the inventions Imai made for the FBI? That's impossible."

"Well, not completely, I guess. But close to it. Take the two Alices with you." Mikan gestured at two of the three Alices they had at their disposal.

"So what?" Luna spoke up impatiently, "Am I gonna go burn down all those 25 storage places myself?"

"No," Mikan frowned, "take an Alice."

"And then what?" Tsubasa asked in concern, "you're gonna kill them yourself?"

She swallowed. "I have to, don't I?" Persona wanted Mikan to kill them with her own hands.

"Take one of my Alices." Tsubasa tried to compromise. The three Alices standing at the back of the room glanced at each other.

"What are we, tools?" One asked the other.

The other shrugged, "Alice, tool, same thing."

Mikan thinks about. "Fine. But I have twenty four hours to kill eight people, which could really take an hour. So I'll take half of your load. I'll erase all eight's digital footprints, and I'll take Youichi. You erase all their physical belongings." With a final deep breath, she looked up at the two Elites. "Alright, we got 24 hours, let's go."

Luna and Tsubasa promptly turned around, marching off.

Meanwhile, Mikan walked to the back storage closet, shoving numerous explosives, guns, and equipment into her backpack.

.

.

.

In the abandoned building, Hotaru was starting to get a headache from all the yelling.

Yuu rubbed his bandaged, groaning as he sat up. "Guys, come on." He tried to plead with the loud crowd. His voice was covered by their heated arguments. Nonoko sidled up close to him, reaching out to support him as he tried to sit up straighter. Yuu shook his head. This time, he yelled - though no one knew he had the capacity to yell - loudly, "GUYS!"

The team paused, turning to look at him.

In his normal, quiet voice, Yuu spoke, "we've all been sleep deprived with irregular eating schedules - just," He paused to wince. "arguing is not going to solve anything."

And Natsume was supposed to be the pseudo-leader of the group. He spoke up, "Yuu's right. Everyone take a step back and rethink this."

"We've started at square one plenty of times." Kitsuneme started.

"We're basically experts now." Koko finished his thought, just like old times.

"We're restartinators." Mochu grinned.

Anna and Nonoko rolled their eyes as Yuu shook his head slightly. A smile lingered on their lips however, because the three Musketeers were back.

Suddenly, Hotaru spoke up. "He wrote another article."

"What?" The team gathered around Hotaru. She was sitting on the table with the laptop in her lap. Whose genius idea was it to store a desk without a chair anyway?

With a scowl at the invasion of her personal space, Hotaru set the laptop down on the desk. It landed with a loud, annoyed thud. Nevertheless, the group gathered around to read the article as she backed away.

"What - we weren't breaking in!" Anna protested. She paused. "Okay, we were - but it was for a good cause!"

"Why doesn't the picture show that Yuu was about to die?!" Nonoko crossed her arms disapprovingly.

On Kitsuneme's arm, Yuu squinted at the picture. "It's the same." He looked at his team members, "the way the picture was taken is the same. The next building over, the same resolution, the same way."

"How did he know?" Koko asked. "If he took these pictures, how did he know where we would be?"

"If he didn't take them pictures, then Christmas is coming early for him." Mochu joked.

"Mark McMillan." Natsume read.

Koko took the liberty to reach the mouse and scroll up to see the headline. "Manhattan News Journal."

"I think I've seen it." Anna tilted her head. "That tall silver building on 34th street?"

"It's between tenth and eleventh avenue." Hotaru confirmed with a nod. "He's on the 12th floor. After the first article about us broke, he was promoted to Senior Editor." Hotaru stated factually, a hint of bitterness in her tone.

Natsume picked up his coat. "Let's go."

"If he don't provide some clues," Mochu commented, "then he's getting punished for opening his presents too early." He grinned crazily.

Natsume stopped, turning around.

Immediately, Mochu brought up his palms in a surrendering movement, "Dude, I was just kidding."

The unnamed leader shook his head at him, turning to a stumbling Yuu instead. "You - stay here."

"Did he say Yuu or You?" Koko whispered to Kitsuneme.

"We'll never know." Kitsuneme whispered back.

"I'll stay with him." Nonoko volunteered.

"No -" Yuu shook his head, straightening his back. Natsume's sharp eyes still caught a twitch of Yuu's eye and a flicker of a wince on his lips. "I can go."

"Yuu-" Nonoko interjected in concern.

Rarely was Yuu firm in his words. This was one of those rare times. "I'm going." He looked to Nonoko with determination in his eyes. "I'm not going to be the handicap of this team. I'm going with you."

There was silence as Natsume contemplated. He turned with a slight upward turn on his lips.

"Let's go, then."

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.

.

Mikan was listening in on the conversation through Youichi's confiscated communicator. Once Natsume put in the final word, she grinned and turned to her apprentice.

"Good choice, Yuu." Mikan muttered. Mirroring their last few lines, she declared. "Let's go." She jumped up, and so did Youichi. Mikan hoisted the backpack on her back as Youichi carried a duffel bag. As they walked down the hall and up the stairs to the rooftop of their Alices Manhattan Headquarters, she grinned at him, "ready for some rooftop jumping?"

Youichi looked reluctantly across the cityscape. Grumpily, he responded. "What's wrong with the subway?"

At that, Mikan laughed heartily. "What's wrong with the subway." She repeated as she wiped tears from her eyes. She looked at a blank faced Youichi, letting out another chuckle. With a mischievous smile that she could only have been rubbed off by Tsubasa, she grinned at him. "Now that's a story for another day."

The younger Alice groaned at the procrastination of explanation.

.

.

.

Eight shadows pose in the alleyway between the Manhattan News Journal skyscraper and the building next to it.

"We can't just stride in." Kitsuneme looked up at the seventy story building.

"How about we pull a Tom Cruise?" Mochu shrugged. "Anyone got suction gloves?"

"Right, like climbing up the side of the building is not obvious at all." Anna rolled her eyes sarcastically. "no one's gonna notice."

"Maybe he'll come out and we can talk to him here." Yuu suggested quietly.

"We'll be waiting here all day." Anna dissented.

"Alright, Ms. Pessimist." Kitsuneme teased. He looked up at the skyscraper again. "if we can't walk in the front door -"

"then maybe we can sneak in the back door!" Koko finished with a triumphant flourish.

Natsume offered no comment, only looked to Hotaru. As the team were discussing options, Hotaru was tinkering on her phone, the option already blossoming in her mind. By the time the rest of the team caught up, she had found an electronic blueprint of the building.

"This way." She led them, holding her phone like it was a GPS. Quietly, the team walked deep in the alleyway to a narrower slit between the Manhattan News Journal building and the building behind it. They had to walk one behind the other until they reached the other side of the building. They picked the lock on the rusty door, walking into a staircase.

"It goes all the way to the top." Hotaru explained. "It's one of the building's required fire escape routes."

"Well here comes my daily workout." Kitsuneme grumbled.

"Mochu - your hat!" Anna hissed as they mounted the steps. "Wear it the right way so you can hide your face. There might be cameras."

"This is Manhattan News Journal - not Air Force One." Koko shook his head.

"Anna's right." It was time for Natsume to interject. "there will be cameras once we get to the hallways."

After climbing up the next five flights of stairs, the team was starting to breathe heavily.

"So what will we do then?" Yuu asked quietly, his voice even more of a gasp than anything. At this point, Nonoko was holding onto his arm - as much as he tried to push her away.

Natsume sent him a worried glance. He didn't comment on his condition, however. He only responded, "just don't look. Don't make eye contact with anyone either."

They climbed three more flights of stairs.

"Twelfth." Mochu grumbled. "Why twelfth?"

Nobody answered him. They were all thinking the same thing.

"If only I could fly…" Kitsuneme commented out loud to no one in particular.

A faint smile appeared on Natsume's face as he thought back to his conversation with Mikan so long ago about superpowers. I would be a pyrokinetic, he refrained from adding.

No one answered him, either, only persevering onto the next few flights of stairs.

"Remind me to hit the gym when this is over." Kitsuneme muttered to his best friend.

Koko let out a heavy breath. "if we survive 'til then."

"Koko!" Nonoko gasped, "don't think like that!"

"Just drop it, Nonoko." the other scientist interjected wearily. "He's not too far off - look at you, you're basically holding up Yuu."

Yuu looked up, firmly gasping out, "I'm fine."

"You shouldn't be talking. You're not doing any better." Natsume was defending his team member, though it didn't really come out like so.

Anna opened her mouth to argue, but closed it abruptly.

There was an awkward silence, interrupted by heavy breathing and footsteps, when they all realized they're reverting back to their arguments.

Mochu sighed, putting in a last word. "Damn, everybody's down with the Pessimistitis."

When they finally reached the landing of the twelfth floor, the Three Musketeers bellowed out a few praises to the heavens. Natsume and Hotaru, however, were focused.

"Deactivate the fire alarm -" Natsume was ordering his teammate.

"Done." Hotaru cut in impatiently. They both then looked to the rest of their team. The other six had hands on their knees, arm on a stair rail, or were leaning against the wall wiping at their forehead.

Regardless, the leaders went ahead. They strode down the hallway with purpose, tactfully spotting and avoiding cameras. They were in Mark McMillian's office in no time.

He had received them with the fascination of a ecologist who found the perfect plant.

"What do you know." Mr. McMillian greeted their unhappy faces, "write of the devil and they come."

Natsume had no time for pleasantries. He fired the first question, "Did you take those pictures?"

"nope." He responded cheerfully.

"Who delivered them?"

"An angel."

With that, he spared his team members an exasperated glance. "You've got to be kidding me."

Apparently, the journalist thought that had meant please continue, for he did just that. "It was love at first sight." The man grinned.

"It was an Alice." Hotaru quickly deduced.

"So basically, we walked up twelve flights of stairs to chase ghosts." Anna wiped at her brow.

"And off she goes with her pessimism." Mochu shook his head disapprovingly at her.

"Do you have a name?" Natsume asked impatiently. This man was starting to piss him off big time.

Mr. McMillian hesitated. He dished out smoothly, "when I do, her last name will be changed to McMillian anyway."

With a long suffering sigh, Natsume rubbed a hand over his face.

"You said you're in love with her." Koko pointed out. He turned to his teammates, "you can't fall in love with masks. She showed her face, didn't she?"

"It was beautiful." The journalist responded immediately. "Like an angel fell from heaven."

Ignoring his interjections, Koko continued, "can you be more specific on her features? Like eye color? If she wore a bold red lipstick? The color of her hair?"

Hearing somewhat familiar voices, Kitsuneme peered out the glass door of the man's office. His eyes widened and he quickly scampered to the group. With theatrical scandal, he hissed. "They're here."

"Who?" More than one team member was alarmed.

Kitsuneme had no need to respond, for they caught sight of Narumi's blonde tussle of hair come into view. Right next to him was the director of FBI, Mr. Yukihira himself. They were right outside the door now and chatting so that Narumi's head was turned away but Mr. Yukihira was looking right at them.

The team froze.

Abruptly, Mr. Yukihira, seeming to not have noticed, turned to the other side of the hallway. He pointed this way and that as he lead the rest of the entourage down that way. They glimpsed Agent Jinno and Agent Misaki as part of the group. Narumi stood in front of the glass door with his back to them.

"How did the woman get in and out of your office?" Hotaru had the right sense to ask. The team hurriedly looked around the office for a back door or any sort of exit.

The man pointed out the window. "I'm telling you, she's an angel."

Natsume ambled toward the window, looking up, down and around.

"We're on the twelfth floor!" Mochu whisper-exclaimed. "It ain't gon' happen!"

"If I had to talk to him for more than five minutes, I'd jump out the window too." Anna quietly commented.

"Anna!" Nonoko berated her friend. "What is up with you today?"

Startlingly, a voice they hadn't expected to contribute to their exit strategy spoke. "They're gone." Narumi had opened the door, leaning in. He was gesturing out the door to the left side of the hall. "Go - hurry."

Without question, the team did so. As they passed by their handler, they muttered sheepish 'thanks' and left gracious smiles.

"I'll miss you guys." Narumi had the nerve to respond.

And then there's Hotaru and Natsume.

"You just sit back and let this happen?" Hotaru accused.

"You're a coward." Natsume followed up.

Neither allowed the man to defend himself, leaving him to let out a morose sigh. Narumi looked at the clueless journalist with a bright smile, closing the door firmly behind him. "Hello, there! So let's go over what you shouldn't say…"

.

.

.

Meanwhile, the two Alices in the A Team's hideout were picking through the one and only storage place of the entire safe house.

Mikan picked up Youichi's communicator. "Aha!" She placed it at the corner of the desk, away from everything else. With the other hand, she began dialing the Alice's tech center. "Hey, yeah, can you reactivate the Ghost's communicator? Yup! Thanks."

Youichi, on the other hand, were throwing all kinds of flammable things in a pile on the floor a few feet away from them. He threw open all the drawers for the second time, double checking that he got everything. Then he picked out a mini explosive from his duffel bag. He placed it right on top of the pile. He stepped back a few feet, holding the trigger. Boredly, he voiced, "watch out." Mikan turned to look just as the pile was incinerated.

"Fire in the hole," Mikan calmly corrected the Level One. She paused, "or maybe that's a government agent thing." To herself, she muttered, "it's all mixed up now."

The younger Alice went back to the desk. Together with Mikan, they began disassembling the electronics. As Mikan handed the laptops' internal hard drives and any data storage parts or any other equipment to Youichi, he assembled a pile more than ten feet away from them. He set up a ring of explosives around the pile. Just in case, however, he also grabbed a bottle of acid from his duffel bag and began to pour it over the pile. He waited a few minutes as the electronic parts began to melt. With the trigger in his hand, Youichi backed up next to Mikan. With the same bored tone, he spoke, "fire in the hole." With a loud blast, the pile exploded. What remained were a large black spot, a few blackened metallic parts, but most of the evidence was incinerated.

"So where are you from?" Mikan struck up conversation with the younger guy.

"Orphanage." Youichi responded disinterestedly. "The Alices wouldn't pick someone from a happy family."

Mikan smiled bitterly. "Oh, yes they would. In fact, they would just take the whole family."

Youichi paused, looking at his elder in confusion. "Where are _you_ from?"

"I grew up with the Alices, Youichi." Mikan responded, not looking at him. She could tell by his silence that he was curious. "It's a long story. Maybe another day."

"You always say that." he grumbled.

"I know." Mikan responded. "I promise. I will get to it. When we get back to headquarters." She paused, sighing as she disassembled the electronics further to their smallest electronic parts. "Tsubasa and I will teach you."

Youichi figured there was something else on her mind when she spoke of headquarters. But he was just a guy. It wasn't any of his business.

Roughly he opened drawers, tapping them to make sure there were no hidden parts. He commented, "looks like they just took a desk from their old storage units and shoved it here."

The Elite smiled briefly. "You would've been a good investigator, Youichi."

He didn't respond as he continued throwing drawers open. He could've been, but it does not bode well to dwell on could've, should've, and would've.

"Shh - stop." Mikan paused, causing Youichi to freeze too. "They're here."

"Can you teach me that?" was Youichi's response.

Mikan picked up his mask and handed it to him. "It takes years of training to heighten your senses. But yeah, one day. For now, you gotta clear out."

The doors burst open - all of the doors simultaneously. Neither of the Alices flinched.

"Too late." Mikan uttered, turning around.

The team approached cautiously, they knew one of the figures but not the other.

Hotaru noted quickly that sitting next to Mikan was Hotaru's computer and all her gadgets. She scowled deeply when she saw that they were all taken apart and data storages carefully destroyed.

"Mikan!" Anna exclaimed.

Quickly deducing that somehow these people are familiar with his fellow Alice, Youichi grabbed Mikan's neck with a gun to her temple, holding her as hostage.

The seven government agents responded by turning to one of theirs. Natsume raised his gun, saying, "I have really good aim."

"Is my mask bulletproof?" Youichi quietly uttered.

"Nope." Mikan answered as she swiftly elbowed him, grabbed his gun hand, and twisted his arm.

Being a trained Alice, Youichi responded reflexively by reversing the twist and pulling his arm back, but a fraction of a second was all he had before he was down on the ground, rolling in pain. In that fraction of a second, he might've gotten out of her grasp, but she had accurately hit various nerves on his upper body, kicked his knees and ankles to bring him to the ground, and finally, a blow to his gut knocked the breath out of him.

"Shit!" he exclaimed loudly, "What the hell?"

"Kill'em!" Mochu fist pumped.

When seven eyes turned to him, he shook his head quickly, "No, no, wait, that's an expression. Like 'got'em' but...nevermind."

Mikan turned to the eight. "I stay, he goes."

"Something's not right about this deal." Kitsuneme spoke slowly.

"Why are_ you_ negotiating?" Anna spoke up.

"She's an Alice." Hotaru spoke coldly. "The whole outfit. It's signature Alice."

"I told you!" Koko exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm an Alice. I'll stay and talk if you let him go." Mikan held out a hand to Youichi, without breaking eye contact with her former team. Youichi took the hand, hoisting himself up.

"Can you teach me that?" Youichi panted out, flexing his shoulders experimentally. "And that was a little excessive, don't you think?"

"Sorry. One day." Mikan responded out of the side of her mouth.

"Okay." He readjusted his mask. Youichi paused, "so what day is one day, really?"

Natsume watched the interaction sharply.

Mikan finally looked at the junior Alice. Reading her expression, he backed off, "Okay I'll bug you about it later."

"Wait," Mikan held up a hand, "your communicator." Hotaru frowned subtly when she realized quietly that they had left it there.

Mikan grabbed the electronic off the table and placed it in his open palm.

He looked at it. "right." Youichi lifted the small communicator. "I don't actually…"

Mikan shook her head, snatching the technology of his hand. She threw his hood back and fixed it in his ear. Under his mask, Youichi was scrunching his face up.

"Is it just me or do they seem really close to you?" Koko muttered quietly to no one in particular. Natsume scowled.

"Ow!" The Alice yelped, jerking his head away from Mikan's grasp. "You pulled my hair!"

"That's what you get for leaving it." Mikan responded easily. She threw the hood back up for him, then shoved him in the shoulder, towards the exit.

"Whatever, _mom."_ He grumbled before strolling out of the warehouse, completely undeterred by the eight eyes trained on him.

"Mom?" Yuu spoke up meekly in confusion.

Mikan turned to them, "Oh, no no, that's a joke, yea - no - 'cause he's level one and I'm Elite…" Mikan tried to explain, pointing between the two Alices. She shook her head when they gave her blank stares. "So he's basically a baby - Nevermind."

"You knew." Natsume gritted out in agitation. "You lied to me."

Mikan looked at him incredulously. "What did you expect? Like you'd let me go if I said, after next week, we're going to be able to contact each other for the rest of our lives."

"But you fucking disappeared without a single word." Were the two even on the same page? Koko wasn't sure.

Mikan threw her hands up in exasperation. "I wouldn't be able to achieve the same effect if I said, by the way, I'm going to go be kidnapped now!"

"I thought they were going to _kill you!"_ Natsume stepped forward in an angry hiss.

Mikan apparently thought this was a pointless argument, and said so. "Why are you yelling at me? You were worried, I get it, but that was the plan!"

"I wasn't worried." Natsume quietly denied in a voice that wasn't so convincing.

"And you're angry at _me_ for lying to you?" Mikan was on a roll. "You're lying to me right now!" She crossed her arms. "So this is the kind of relationship we have."

"If you can even call this a relationship." Natsume shot back.

"Oh, so now you're going to deny it all." They have never seen Mikan so pissed. "What happened to 'we're just a guy and a girl who like each other, more than they know, sitting on a rooftop talking about life?'"

"That was before I found out the woman I love is living a double life!" Natsume broke all self-control. He really hadn't meant to say that.

"Then we're both in the same deep shit." Mikan shot back. "Because they guy _I'm_ in love with is in love with a shadow of me from three years ago!" She looked up as if to count time, "Three years and ten months ago!"

"How many times do I have to tell you-" He was to the point of pulling his hair out. "That was the fucking past - it's over - I don't give a fuck about the past you or The Woman or any woman! I care about the present you!"

"Well, sorry to disappoint." Mikan responded distractedly. "The present me is too complicated to love."

"That's not a -" Natsume looked about ready to throttle her, though what he said was quite the opposite. "What part of 'I'm in love with you thickhead' do you not understand?!"

"The 'you' part!" Mikan crossed her arms. She was infuriating as always.

Now Natsume was physically throttling the air.

"So..." Kitsuneme let out. "Looks like they're in love with each other. But they're confused about it."

"Wait -" Mikan stopped. The comments of the other team members brought her back to reality. "I wasn't supposed to - this is not how this is supposed to go down." She grumbled to herself. Leave it up to Natsume to ruin her orderly plans. Now what?

Surprisingly, Koko was the one who kept his head straight. "So hold - hold on - wait a second." Koko stopped, laughing an odd sort of laugh. "So after like thirty six hours of hell, and basically everything stripped from us, Natsume is in love with Mikan and vice versa - and nobody gives a fuck she just did all that?"

Kitsuneme held up a finger. "I do."

But before he could go any further, Mikan cut in brightly. "Right! Exactly. Good point, Koko. So." She clasped her hands together, "I'm gonna kill you all."

Mochu opened his mouth, then closed it. He opened it again, haltingly stating, "help a brother out here - so how - wait - you guys are like all love and shit," he pointed in between Natsume and Mikan, then pointed at Mikan, "but you're gonna kill us."

"How does that connect?" Anna asked Mochu's question.

Mikan pretended to think for a moment. Then she explained curtly, "I'm an Alice. It was a mission. I was picked because I know you all and how you work. It makes sense."

"No." Koko shook his head disagreeably. "It really doesn't."

"Wait - okay - I'm still -" Nonoko shook her head, spreading her arms to halt the progress of their conversation. "Mikan's the bad guy?"

"Yes!" Mikan gave her a thumbs up. She then glanced at her watch, looking up again to comment, "Now we're getting somewhere."

Mochu clicked his tongue, sending Nonoko a disapproving look. "Old news, girl, keep up."

"Jinno was right." Hotaru commented.

"The world _is_ turning upside down." Kitsuneme responded. "And you still haven't answered how you got from loving somebody to now killing somebody."

"Why?" was all Natsume had to say for Mikan to suck in a sharp breath. Koko saw a break in Mikan's facade.

She took a deep breath and avoided eye contact with the questioner. She produced a collapsible cup from the folds of her clothing. She placed it on the desk and opened it to its full size. Mikan reached in her ear and took out an earpiece - possibly for the Alices. She placed that in the cup. When she looked up and saw the curious glances, she explained, "it's an interference device. They can't hear us." She glanced at her watch again. She knew he was asking her motive, but she spoke of another event. "I need to warn you-"

"Oh, right, _after_ all this shit. Thanks, Mik, real nice." Koko crossed his arms sassily.

Ignoring him, she continued, "that when you die, stay dead."

"What?" Anna voiced.

"I was thinking we're gonna turn into zombies and haunt you but," Kitsuneme shrugged sarcastically, "now that you tell me, I'm considering decomposition."

"No." Natsume blatantly spit out. "Why are you siding with the Alices?"

Mikan breathed deeply. There was long pause as she contemplated telling them. For the umpteenth time, she glanced at her watch.

Swiftly, Mikan hopped up and sat on the metal desk. It felt a little cold through her black, athletic running tights, but it warmed up quickly. She wrapped her big, black coat around herself, crossing her arms and her legs.

"Okay." She decided. "I'll humor you." She gathered her thoughts. "Good and bad," Mikan started, "it's a matter of perspective."

"Persona brainwashed you." Natsume interpreted.

"I wouldn't call it brainwashing." Mikan disagreed. "I would call it weighing the consequences."

"And the consequences of being with us," Koko gestured to all of them, "You know, the best agents that ever lived - was higher than being with them?"

Mikan looked around as if the answer was obvious, "Were you not there when all eight of you stood against five Alices and lost in ten minutes? They make the Russian mafia look like kindergarten bullies."

"I'm curious." Hotaru stated bluntly, "what are the consequences of siding with us?"

"Let me guess," Kitsuneme cut in sarcastically, "we all die. But don't we all die anyway?"

"I'll give you an example." Mikan shrugged. "Remember Ephemelda? That costume designer? We never really understood why her boyfriend would kill her. I said, he panicked, you know? No, you were right, he didn't kill her. I did."

There was a collective gasp among the team.

Gullibly, Anna exclaimed, "When?!"

"Theoretically." Mikan rolled her eyes, "I made a mistake." Mikan turned to look at Natsume.

"You were there." Natsume stated, the gears in his brain turning quickly. She was at Cornell University, when Aoi was there.

"Yes," Mikan admitted unblinkingly, "I helped you, a little. I let you see Aoi for five minutes." She couldn't stand the way Natsume's eyes turned soft, she couldn't bear it. She turned to everyone else. "I did the mission, it was all a success, it was smooth, it was perfect. We were just behind a few minutes. She got to see her brother. There was no harm done."

"That mistake cost you a life." Nonoko stated, as if to convince herself too.

"What does a failed mission cost you?"

Mikan laughed dryly, "This is as far as I'll humor you." Though her eyes told of unforgivable suffering.

A thought lingered on Hotaru's mind, and she couldn't resist blurting out. "how'd you find us this time?"

Mikan's eyes closed in on her. "You, actually."

The team all turned to look at Hotaru. She obviously did not purposely leak their location for she spoke with a glare, "what?"

"This." Mikan tapped the disassembled laptop. "It's quite obvious. The moment you get online, you're like a sitting duck. We have your signature, we just track and then it's checkmate." She smiled briefly. "Also, you kept the Alice's communication. It's really just a one way thing because we cut off the connection to us. So we're basically listening in on all your conversations."

"_All_ of it?" Mochu asked, wide-eyed. He turned to Kitsuneme, "did I talk in my sleep?" His friend waved him away with an expression that said, 'not now, Mochu'.

Hotaru glared at a few of the team's lingering looks. They quickly turned away to avoid her wrath.

Natsume, on the other hand, was adamant. "We could protect you." He gritted his teeth.

Mikan whipped to him and he was almost taken back by the emotion in her eyes. Her eyes told him 'I know, and that's what scares me'. But outwardly, she laughed that dry, horrible laugh of hers, "Protection." She said incredulously, "like how you've protected me the past ten months? Like how you've protected me when I was kidnapped?"

There was silence again. Mikan turned back to Natsume. She placed her elbow on her thigh and chin in her hand. "And you would know about protection because? Where is Aoi right now, Natsume?"

Natsume's jaw clenched.

"Aoi's his sister." Koko told the other confused team members quietly.

"At least she's safe." Mikan spoke so quietly, it was barely above a whisper.

"Is she?" Natsume looked directly into her eyes. They told him that she'll make sure of it.

Mikan didn't answer. "Like I said." She addressed the whole group. "When you die, stay dead."

"Why?" Natsume was like a child who wanted to know the answer to everything.

She checked her watch for the umpteenth time. Apparently, it was the time she had been expecting. "I'm out of time," was all the explanation she gave. She took a small earpiece out of a cup sitting on the desk beside her. Once she put it in her ear, she answered to the other end. "I'm here." She paused, "Copy that. T minus two minutes."

Youichi, who was standing on the roof listening to the communicator began taking out equipment in preparation for the final act.

He heard Mikan say, "I'm sorry." Then a gunshot. And another - and another - for a total of eight gunshots.

Mikan tried to calm her breathing. She put the cup that her communicator had been in on the ground. She flicked a switch on her gun, then place the gun in the cup. She then brought her knees to her chest as she sat on the desk, clearing her legs away from the two objects.

Two beeps later, the gun made a small explosion, disintegrating along with the cup.

"What the-" Mochu started but stopped when Mikan quickly shook her head and threw a finger to her lips. Mochu looked to the other team members, and especially Natsume for guidance. Except Natsume was too busy glaring at the eight holes drilled in the back of the building, just inches away from the members' heads.

Mikan glanced at her watch, then looked up at the ceiling. She paused, furrowed her eyebrows, then spoke. "Ghost, T minus one minute." She waited a beat. "Ghost, that's your cue."

As if in response, part of the ceiling collapsed - a perfectly circular concrete block landed between Mikan, who was now standing on the table, and the team. It was driving up a small dust storm. Soon afterwards came a single rope. Mikan grabbed onto it quickly, climbing up swiftly.

The team coughed and waved a hand over their faces, trying to see through the fog.

As if suddenly spurred into action, Natsume grabbed onto the rope just as Mikan was halfway up. The Alice glanced down urgently, her face protesting, but her mouth uttering no words. She quickly scrambled up to the ceiling, grabbed onto the rims of the circular hole, and climbed onto the roof. She reappeared a split second later, looking apologetically down at Natsume, who was halfway up, and producing a small pocket knife.

Natsume's face changed to protest and slight horror.

Mikan grimaced as she cut the rope, standing up and looking away. She heard an unceremonious thump, and if she strained her ears, she could hear a painful groan.

Youichi furrowed his eyebrows. "What was that?"

"Nothing." Mikan quickly answered. She pointed up, and the lower ranked Alice looked in that direction just in time to see a helicopter hover by. He immediately started climbing up the rope hanging off its side.

Staying behind just a few beats after Youichi, Mikan threw something small and circular down. Nonoko recognized it immediately. "Bomb!" She yelled as she scrambled as far away as possible. The team quickly ran towards the many doors but found themselves unable to open them.

In desperation, they shook the door, kicked at it, struggled against it - but no avail. They quickly assessed what had happened. While they were talking, Youichi had been outside locking the doors securely to trap them in.

Glimpsing Youichi's figure climb on to the transport, Mikan grabbed onto a rope coming down a side of the helicopter. She had to hang on as the helicopter began to move away. She cleared out of range just as the place exploded. She climbed up the rope and into the advanced flying contraption. Mikan seated herself next to Persona, strapping in the necessary safety precautions.

"I heard the gun shots." Persona commented condescendingly, "At least you know people survive from explosions."

"I know that too." Youichi piped up.

The two Alices in the front seat turned to look at the Level One Alice. Youichi shrank in his chair. The two Alices turned back to each other.

"The explosion was just to get rid of the evidence." Mikan explained lifelessly.

"Good." Persona responded not as encouragingly as the word itself was supposed to be.

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Yukihira sat morosely in his office. He didn't bother to turn on the lights as the sky outside darkened ever so slowly. He sighed.

His personal cell phone rang, and he glanced at it. He contemplated ignoring it - but once he caught sight of the unknown number, he fumbled to have it in his grasp.

He pressed answer. He knew there was no need for him to say anything.

"The A team is dead." The chilling, dark voice of the one he knew was Persona spoke concisely. "It's time for a press conference, director."

A single click and that was it.

Yukihira looked at his phone. After a moment's thought, he scrolled through his contacts and called someone he knew was aware of the situation. "Narumi." He greeted once the other end picked up, "Her job is done. Now we need to do our part." When the other end posed a question, he answered grimly, looking out the window again. "No, she will never know."

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**A/N:**HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I tried with the dialogue between Natsume and Mikan but it's hard. They're just not the type to straight up confess and in a situation like that, they shouldn't even be having that discussion. But they needed to tell each other before they separate paths. SO I TRIED OKAY.

I just read an article about how the FBI can turn on laptop cameras without turning on the indicator light. If you're curious, google it and check it out. I told you this because I wanted to gloat about how spot on I am with this story ;)

I finished my college applications! Now, I'm waiting on decisions. Eek!

**IMPORTANT Good news & Bad news****:**

Bad news- The A Team is coming to a close!

Good news - I have the sequel prepared and ready to go once this is over.

**Better news** - You lovely readers can help me think of a codename for Mikan (that I will use in the sequel) in the reviews below! Just comment what you think her codename should be, and (disclaimer) I may _pick, alter, or not pic_k that codename. I will respond to you personally with my decision. Guest reviewers - you are welcome, no, encouraged, to put forward your ideas too. Just know that I will not be able to respond directly to you. THANKS!

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"**Lights! Camera! And Action!"**

**(blooper from last chapter)**

Meanwhile, on the rooftop, the four Elites immediately started running towards the other end of the roof. Youichi, after a moment's surprise, followed closely after them.

"So how long have you been running?" Tsubasa struck up conversation with the newbie as he sprinted.

There was pause. Youichi looked at the camera, then turned back to Tsubasa. "Uh…"

"Wait, that's not right…" Tsubasa corrected himself. "Sorry." All four actors backtracked.

"So how long have you been with this…" Tsubasa trails off, still running.

The actors keep up their roles, sprinting in front of the green screen, occasionally jumping and changing levels.

"Three years." Youichi answered, haltingly.

Someone off stage is heard yelling, "It's 'how long have you been with us?'!"

Tsubasa cleared his throat, and they backtracked again. "So how long have you been with us?" He asked as they sprinted.

"Three years." Youichi responded. After a pause, as if defensively, he added, "I was going to level up but the Academy shut down." Youichi paused, "I wanted to be an Elite."

"You're in luck, bro." Tsubasa grinned, "You're in the presence of two and...three quarters." He paused, shaking his head. "Sorry, let's do that again."

The four actors on the stage backtracked again. This time, Mikan was sending Tsubasa a glare.

"You're in the presence of two and one-fifth."

"It's a half, Tsubasa." The director was gritting her teeth now.

"...two and seven-eighths."

"...two and one third."

"He's doing this on purpose." The director uttered with a shake of her head. She wasn't the only one glaring at Tsubasa now. "Seriously?!"

"...two and a half."

"Thank you!" Luna threw her hands up.

"Now we gotta refilm that." The director responded, "good job, Luna."

The four actors and actresses sighed as they backtracked.

"you're in the presence of two and a half."

Youichi was silent for a moment. "Can you teach me? And who's the half?"

The director walked to a small TV that was getting a live feed from the camera. She watched it with crossed arms. She didn't like what she was seeing.

As the conversation went on, Mikan was panting heavily and her arms were dropping lower and lower.

The director uncrossed her arms. She yells to the actors on set, "Mikan! You're supposed to be athletic! Act like it!"

"I will when Tsubasa gets his shit together!" Mikan yells back, "I'm so damn tired of running!"

The camera zooms out to show Mikan and the other Alices running on a treadmill in front of the green screen.

From off stage, Anna gasps. "There are children here!"

Standing beside her, Kitsuneme makes a face. "Koko's not a child."

Anna turns to him blankly. "I was talking about little Youichi." She pats the said child's head as he stood next to her.

He looks up with his big innocent and says one word, "Fuck."

Anna gasps for the second time, her hand coming to cover her mouth. "Oh my gosh! Who taught you that?!"

Kitsuneme shakes his head. "That's what happens when you let a child follow Natsume around for a day."

**(here's a blooper I meant to post for the earlier chapters - where Luna was hunting the Alices down - but I forgot)**

The cast lingered around the snack table full of donuts and fruit trays.

"we've been so mean to Luna..." Anna frowned reminiscently.

"she's mean to us so we're even." Mochu shrugged as he shoved a donut into his mouth.

"what if she was just misunderstood?!" Nonoko joined in the discussion.

"I CAN HEAR YOU!" Luna yelled from the other side of the set.

"But what could be the misinterpretation in trying to kill us...?" Kitsuneme argued as they all ignored Luna.

"Maybe she just wants friends to fight with, you know," Mikan shrugged as she, too, grabbed a donut. "like she's just socially awkward."

"I AM NOT!" Luna stomped her right foot. "I HAVE FRIENDS THANK YOU VERY MUCH."

"aww, Luna," Anna pouted cutely, "you know mr. prostitute is just your friend for the money right?"

"and you all wonder why I try to kill you.." Luna grumbled.


	14. finale

An able-bodied woman dressed in business attire watched as teams prepare the press room of the FBI headquarters in Washington, DC. Her eyes scanned the room one last time as she listened to all the security teams check in. She turned and left the room, walking past many offices, many secured doors that she opened with her ID and eye, and finally stopped before a large, mahogany door that read, 'Director of FBI.'

She knocked, waiting for the green light. Once the door unlocked itself, she turned the handle and peeked in, "Sir, we're ready for your press release."

A man was standing near the window, looking out pensively. His expression cleared as he turned to look at her, nodding simply. He let out an inaudible sigh as he followed her lead, acknowledging with only a nod as three more FBI agents flanked him.

Kazumi Yukihira walked on stage. Cameras clicked. He stood on the podium. After a pause, he started, "Citizens of the United States. Residents of our great country. The Federal Bureau of Investigation serves you; we are here to protect your freedom, your liberty, and your life. What we believe was in your best interest is to start a project featuring our best agents. There was indeed a team called The A Team comprised of the best from both FBI and CIA. I say, 'was' because they have been disbanded. Whether or not the rumors are true, they were let go due to their inability to serve our mission." He stopped.

The reporters began asking questions, thinking he was lingering on the stage to deliver answers. But he neither addressed a reporter, nor answered a shouted statement. He continued firmly. "My sources have confirmed...all eight members of The A Team were killed in an explosive accident." There was a spur of noise as reporters reacted in surprise and shock, and camera men clicked away. Yukihira breathed deeply. Then he repeated his statement. "Yes, members of The A Team are dead. No matter what the media said, what people thought of them - they were good people, and great investigators. They will be sorely missed. Thank you." He nodded once, turning to walk calmly off the stage as he bared himself against flash after flash and question after question that he neither answered nor acknowledged.

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**The A Team**

**Aspirator**

**.**

**.**

**.**

Narumi sat sullenly on his couch, beer in one hand. Not as drunk as he'd like to be, his ears quickly caught the light scrape of metal that came from lockpicking. He was anticipating what came next. The barrel of a gun? A bomb thrown in his home? Or will he see the face of his attacker first?

He sure wasn't expecting Hotaru Imai to amble in, send a cursory glance over his tragic state, and still stand stoically in front of him.

"You're pathetic." She commented first.

Narumi offered up a loopy grin, "but not drunk yet. What is it?"

Hotaru launched into the speech she wanted to deliver him, with the anger that he knew she had bottled inside. "You know I always thought it was odd that Mikan came to us exactly three years after the incident. And Luna counted down the months...everything was timed so perfectly." She leaned in and Narumi swore she was baring her fangs. She gritted out, "You knew all along?"

Narumi sighed, his face sad. "I was in love with Yuka...I...made mistakes. They caught onto it. I did them a favor but I was - I knew she would be okay with your team anyway."

Hotaru stood back, her arms crossed. "You put the team in danger."

"I sent her to you so you could keep her safe." Narumi disagreed.

Hotaru scoffed, looking away and disgustedly glancing over the state of his living place.

"Hotaru." Narumi caught her attention, "How did you find me?"

"You weren't hard to find, Narumi. You weren't trying. Especially since I didn't have to use a computer." She turned to look at him.

He gave her a quaint smile. "I was trying, thank you very much. But I -"

"Stopped trying." There was a slight pause before Hotaru quietly commented, "Why? You're about to be a dead man, Narumi. You're a-"

"Loose end." Narumi breathed deeply. "They must feel elated when tying up shoelaces." He laughed, but his audience was not with him. He looked up into her eyes, "And I'm not saying you should take advice from a dead man, but I think you should look a little bit closer."

Hotaru gave him a curious stare.

"There's more to Mikan than that," Narumi stood up, beginning to shuffle through the mess and piles he's got around him, "you of all people should have been the first to believe that."

"I'm a scientist, I look at facts. And the fact is - they got to her and now she's after us." Hotaru scowled at the man's optimism. "I have nothing, Narumi. Didn't you hear me? She destroyed all the files and back-ups and -" She let out a miserable exhale, "_everything._"

"I wouldn't be so sure," He found what he was looking for. A small microchip. "You haven't seen all the facts."

Hotaru accepted it but was not pleased. "If I so much as touch technology I might as well send out a blipping signal on their satellites. The way I use a computer - I have a digital signature."

"Then don't use your signature."

"No one on the team is as good as I am! We'd get nowhere!"

"I'm sure there's a few hackers around here you can threaten with a gun." Narumi replied cheerfully. He felt around the cushions of the sofa, stuck his hand in one of them, then pulled out some more microchips. "There it is! I knew I had more." He winked at her, "They didn't check _me_ for back-ups." Then he tapped his chin, "But Mikan should've known. I guess she let that go."

Instead of gratitude, Hotaru sent him a dark glare. "How many secrets are you keeping from us?"

Narumi only smiled. He was a dead man, for sure, but he still wasn't giving out secrets like it's Victoria's.

"Nevermind," Hotaru grumbled, "I'll find out soon enough."

When the door slammed, Narumi sank into the couch, a grim smile set on his lips. "Of course you will." He waited a few bated breaths before he picked up his phone and called the director of FBI. "Kazumi." He spoke as the other end picked up. "The package has been delivered." He paused before stopping the other man from hanging up. "Is that all we can do? Cross our fingers and hope for the best?" He sighed when the other man answered. "We did what we could. I know." They two men hung up at the same time, both dissatisfied with the world.

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"So what now?" It was Anna who asked the question.

After the attack, they could've split. They understood what Mikan was telling them. She couldn't kill them, but she could fake it. And so when she "killed" them, they needde to stay dead. They could've gone anywhere, done anything.

But everything was stripped from them. Their job, Mikan, their belongings, their reputation, and ultimately, their lives. They had nothing but each other. So they ended up sticking together and finding an old warehouse. They had lock picked their way in, knowing it had no connection to any of them. They were living off the grid.

"We do what we always do." Hotaru stated, and she smiled, almost evilly.

"Eat?" More than one person voiced.

Hotaru glared at them condescendingly, "We're going to investigate."

They didn't understand until she connected the projector cord to some random hacker's laptop she stole. Her screen showed them a secret surveillance tape. The camera seemed to be in high elevation, overlooking Narumi's entire office. The only place it could have been located to catch such an angle was on one corner of the room, where the ceiling met the convergence of two walls.

"Where'd you get this?" Natsume asked suspiciously.

"Narumi." Hotaru stated curtly.

"How did you even - " Yuu paused, "nevermind, I don't want to know."

Hotaru disregarded the comment, and merely typed a few more keys, playing the tape.

_Mikan was sitting in front of Narumi._

_Narumi grinned, "I have a mission for you."_

_Mikan cocked her head to the side, considering the privacy of the meeting. Cautiously, she replied, "I haven't heard the word mission since CIA."_

_"It's not exactly a mission. It's a case, and once you've solved it, it will turn into a mission." Narumi explained._

_He slid over a black file folder - it seemed as if there weren't much in it. Then he nodded, as if giving her permission to open it. Curiously, she flipped the manila cover over._

_On top of a pile was a large picture, the size of a piece of paper. The first seemed to be a tattoo of some sort on skin. The tattoo was the outline of a star, and inside was just the letter A._

_Mikan gasped sharply. Then she seemed to have lost the ability to form coherent sentences._

_Silently, Narumi's hand reached over to slowly spread the stack of pictures out in front of her one by one._

_"Chicago," Narumi stated, when he spread out the second picture._

_The second picture was an action shot of a black figure running. The figure was a female. Her hood had fallen off, showing a ponytail of brown hair. One couldn't tell how long the ponytail was for the figure was running so fast it was almost a blur._

_"Boston,"_

_The third was another action shot of the same female figure using a small knife in her left hand and stab a man on her left, and at the same time kicking another man into the wall in front of her. There were two men already on the ground, presumably dead._

_"She's using local gangs, seemingly as practice, or information." Narumi voice continued, the first time the original A team has heard him state a phrase so seriously.  
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_"She and some others are planning something big and we have to stop them while we still can."_

_"You have reason to be afraid of her," Mikan's voice came through, "but how do you know there's more of her and she's - their - planning something?"_

_Instead of answering her question directly, he only stated, "Miami," spreading out the fourth picture._

_The fourth picture was of the mystery woman seemingly interrogating someone. She had a gun tucked under a man's chin, who was on his knees and he seemed to be yelling something in desperation, hands up in surrender. Behind her were three men, dress in all black just like her, and in the middle of fighting (defeating, rather) ten men that presumably belonged to the man on his knees._

_"That," A finger tapped the man on his knees, "is the drug cartel lord, Fernandez Amero. I'd say she either needs something to be delivered, or information."_

_Mikan remained silent._

_Narumi's hand swept over the fourth photo, placing it somewhere else, and revealing the fifth photo. "This was from man being interrogated is Gregory Hun, head honcho of another local gang."_

_This time, the man had one hand on the edge of the roof of a tall building, desperately hanging on. The woman was crouching, talking to the man, with her foot on his hand. _

_Though the angle of the camera was from the bottom of the building, one still couldn't see her face. All it caught was a curve of soft pink lips. Beside her were again three men, each had a gun, seemingly to be patrolling the area, scouting out threats. Protecting her._

_"She was smart - very careful in keeping her face at the right angle so that it was hidden either under her hood, or arm, or just unrecognizable." Narumi explained. "Merciless, too, because when she got her information - assuming, she did, because we caught her smile there - and dear Gregory seemed to think he was safe there, but she just kicked him, and let him fall 57 stories." There was a pause, then he continued, "there were more. Reliable sources have placed her in Los Angeles, Houston, D.C., San Antonio, even Phoenix."_

_"You want me to catch her?" Mikan's statement came out as a question._

_"No, I want you to research," Narumi answered, "who she is, who they are, what her motive is, and what she wants. For now, our theory is that she's taking out competition. But we all know that's a stretch. After research, come to me with the information. Then we can talk about making this a mission."_

_There was a moment of silence. Then Mikan spoke, almost darkly, "you know who they are. The Alices."_

_Narumi's eyebrows rose at this, "You said you didn't remember."_

_"I don't - not completely." Mikan crossed her arms. "You chose me because of my memories - that are slowly returning thanks to Luna, actually." At that statement, _

_Narumi sat back in surprise, but Mikan barreled on, "That tattoo had to be mine. You only got five pictures and they travelled all over the country. You obviously wouldn't have been able to get a close shot of their heel."_

_"Excellent," Narumi nodded like a teacher, smiling, "Actually, one of them was found dead - we snatched him up before they could clean up their mess. He's in the morgue, if you wanna see him. Here's the authorization papers," he slid over a slip._

The tape ended there.

"So that was why Mikan went to the morgue and the 'dead' Alice was actually alive and went inside the morgue to try to find the Alices files from three years ago." Yuu stated hesitantly, putting the pieces together. "And also kidnap Mikan."

Hotaru nodded, "Two months ago, when Narumi was being impersonated, the Alices files were stolen. Probably turned to ashes by now."

"Obviously they're tying up all kinds of loose ends, getting back at the people who shut them down..." Anna tapped her chin, "but who is that woman that Mikan was researching on?"

The team looked at Natsume, who looked at Hotaru. They both turned back to the team and shook their heads.

Nobody knew.

"Sounds like the Alices' trump card." Yuu spoke quietly.

Hotaru tapped a few keys and the tape played again. They could easily tell it was edited so that only certain parts of surveillance played and others were deleted.

The screen lit up to show, what appears to be, the head of FBI's office. Mikan sat comfortably in the chair in front of the head of FBI. Meanwhile, Kazumi Yukihira stood at the window. He then turned, striding to his desk, and sat down.

The date stamp read a week before their A Floor blew up and the chain of events that followed.

"_I'm your uncle, Mikan." Kazumi emphasized, "please. Listen to me." When Mikan didn't respond, he continued. "You don't have to do it - the mission they told you. That's their way of initiating you back into the Alices."_

_Mikan didn't look at her uncle. "I know."_

"_Then why don't you take the chance?!" Yukihira exclaimed, causing Mikan to rear back. Gently, he continued, "You're already out, Mikan." Kazumi looked at her with sad eyes, "You could've made it. You could've just left, you could've ran, you could've lived your own life, do what you wanted."_

"_But I'd always be looking over my shoulder. They'll catch up to me eventually." Mikan shook her head. "They'll catch up to them first. I did take a chance...this is my only chance to make it right for Natsume, and Hotaru..Yuu, Koko, Nonoko, Anna, Mochu, Kitsuneme. Taking that mission was the only way I could tip the odds and control the outcome just one last time."_

"_You could tip the odds and control the outcome for the rest of your life if you had just left when you could." Kazumi pursued his point._

_Mikan frowned. "I wouldn't have been able to do anything in their favor."_

"_There were other choices. There's always other choices."_

_Mikan sat up. "You don't understand. This was the only choice that could give them a life."_

_Kazumi was now raising his voice in frustration and agitation. "But it cost you yours!"_

"_It'll be worth it." Mikan's voice remained quiet._

"_Will it?" Kazumi spoke in a quietly, hoarsely, "They won't know. They won't even thank you. Worse yet, they'll hate you. They'll loathe every living cell of yours for doing this to them."_

"_They don't need to know." Mikan looked away. Quietly, she said, "if they knew, they wouldn't stay put. They wouldn't stay safely away."_

"_But they should. They should understand the sacrifices made for their sake. They should know that you'll be trapped in the Alices, you'll be doing their dirty business for years, you'll be trying to hold on to your soul, trying not to succumb to the darkness - your life for eight."_

"_I won't. I won't succumb to the darkness."_

"_That's what Yuka said. That what Izumi promised." Kazumi looked at her in grief, "they shone beams of light in the darkness that was the Alices, and what the Alices do for them? They killed them."_

"_Yuka was never pronounced dead."_

"_So where is she now?" Kazumi snapped. When Mikan didn't respond, Kazumi went on softly, "You can't come back from a mission like that alive, Mikan, it was a death sentence."_

"Wait, who's Yuka?" Anna asked cluelessly.

"Her mom." More than one person answered impatiently.

The next tape was back to Narumi's office, only two days after Mikan's talk with the director of FBI.

"_I know who she is - well, not specifically." Mikan started, "But I know her codename is the Princess." _

"_So now you're telling me?" Narumi responded with a grin that didn't match his tone._

_Mikan looked up in question and alarm at Narumi._

_Narumi sat forward, in one of his rare serious moments. "I know you did your research. I know you decided to sit on your information. Question is, why? Why didn't you want to tell me? And why do you choose now, right before you're about to ruin the lives of your teammates, to tell me?"_

_Mikan frowned, "why does everyone know about my mission?" She avoided eye contact. "I've been debating on what I want to tell you, and what I want to keep. This is close to the heart of the Alices."_

"_The mystery woman or what she's doing?"_

"_No, what she's doing, I suspect, is training." Mikan softly disclosed._

"_Training?!" Narumi incredulously repeated. _

"_You government agencies train with dummies and simulations. Nothing like the real thing. So when your agents get out there, you're not prepared for the real world. Once we get up to higher levels, us Alices train with the real thing, then we're prepared for the real world." Mikan explained._

"_So who is she?" Narumi asked curiously, "The Princess?"_

"_Like I said, I don't know." Mikan looked up at him. "I thought she was Aoi Hyuuga. I thought they were training her, and that they were finally going to use her for something."_

"_You thought?" Narumi quickly caught on to the past tense._

"_I found her at Cornell. Aoi can't be the Princess." Mikan looked down. "Maybe it's someone I knew as an Elite, maybe it's someone I've never met. I don't know."_

"_And you're going back to the Alices to find out?" Narumi asked dubiously._

_Mikan bit her lip, contemplating. Finally, she told him, "I think she's trapped in the Alices. I think the Master's got a leash on her, just like me."_

"_You're not trapped yet." Narumi disagreed. "Not if you escape now."_

"_That's what Kazumi said." Mikan shook her head, smiling grimly. "Narumi, I'm not running away."_

_Narumi groaned, "No, Mikan - please -"_

"_You can't convince me otherwise." Mikan interrupted firmly._

_After a dejected sigh, Narumi softly let out, "You're a lot like Yuka, you know. Always sacrificing herself for others."_

"That fucking-" Mochu looked at his teammates, "he's just gonna admit defeat like that?"

"He didn't even try to _really_ convince her!" Kitsuneme protested.

The others, though agreeing, shushed them as the tape continued.

_Mikan neither agreed nor disagreed. She only quietly confessed, "I didn't know she was my mother, or he was my father. They were just my teachers. They never told me. They never told me about my uncle, Kazumi, either."_

_There was a moment of silence, where Narumi let out another sigh. This one more sad than anything else. "There's more, isn't there?"_

_Mikan looked up again, as if to say, 'so now your read minds?'_

"_Please, Mikan, help me understand." Narumi begged. _

"_If I did run away, I couldn't have run away far." Mikan looked up, as if to reminisce. "I would've been running to UK and the Alices headquarters there."_

"_What?" Narumi was caught off guard by that one.  
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"_Yuka." Mikan made eye contact with the senior agent. "She was sent on one last mission -"_

_He knew where she was going with this. "Mikan - no - you know she couldn't have come back from that - Mikan - She's -" he had a hard time saying it himself, but he'll do it for her, "she's dead, Mikan!"_

_Mikan shook her head in denial. "But there has to be a reason - Yuka couldn't have just been assigned that mission - I looked and Master had nothing to gain from sending her there! It was not connected to any other mission and there was nothing she had to retrieve -"_

"_Of course there was nothing to retrieve! He didn't want her to come back! He was sending her to her death!" Narumi argued as their voices rose._

"_But why?!" Mikan matched his raised voice. "Why, all of the sudden, did he want her to die? Why, all of the sudden, did Izumi - my father - die? In the same month! They had a reputation and they were important in the Alices. They were teachers of the Alice Academy - in fact, after they were gone, Alice Academy suffered for two years and finally shut down without them." She lowered her voice, and with conviction, she said, "there has to be a reason."_

"_You're going back to hell just to chase ghosts, dig up graves, and turn over stones not meant to be turned over." Narumi shook his head, "please, you don't need to do this, Mikan."_

"_I do." She nodded firmly, "and I want the team to be out of the way and safe when I do."_

The team was startled by a loud thud when the screen blackened, and turned to an angry Natsume. Throughout the progress of the tape, Natsume had stood up, paced around with clenched fists, and finally, at the end, proceeded to punch the nearby wall.

Mochu was also miffed, crossing his arms. He exclaimed, "Her damn hero-complex! She don't need to save the whole damn world! We could fucking find out about her parents with her - out of the way my ass!" When the room was quiet, he looked around disbelievingly, "we're not going to just stay low, right? Right, guys?"

No one answered.

"She was right." Koko shook his head. "She didn't want us to know because if we did, we wouldn't do what she wanted us to do."

"She went to all that trouble to get us safe." Anna leaned forward, looking at the rest of the team seriously. "If we just show up and helped her then what she did would've been in vain."

"You remember what she said about the costume designer, Ephemelda?" Yuu added onto Anna's argument. "Their master killed somebody just because she slowed down a mission by five minutes. If we -" he paused, shaking his head. He decided on a different approach, "_we're_ her mission. If we show up, that means she failed her mission, and who knows what her master will do."

Nonoko gasped, horrifically voicing, "he might kill her, right then and there."

Koko mumbled in a small voice. "She did all that for us. The least we could do is honor it."

Mochu looked at his team members with a slack jaw, then he turned to Natsume. They all turned to Natsume.

Natsume didn't want to back down. He didn't want to run away like a coward.

But what could he do? What was there to do?

They were defamed in America, they were publicly dead, and they had absolutely nothing.

He looked around the room. He looked at Hotaru's weary face, the many bags under her eyes from not having slept for the past forty eight hours. He looked at Koko and Kitsuneme's crushed spirits, no longer the cheerful jokesters that they were. He looked at Mochu's tattered baseball cap, the only thing he had left to distinguish his quirky personality. He looked at Anna and Nonoko's pleading expression to save one of their own by calling in defeat. Finally, he looked at the wise Yuu, who smartly let nothing show on his face but respect and loyalty for whatever Natsume may choose to do.

With a tone of finality, he finally spoke up, defeated, "we honor her stupid fucking wishes."

That night, they left, traveling first by foot. When they got to the city, they stole a few cars and got far, far away. Far away to Nevada. They stopped at a trailer lot. They'll blend in there. They took two trailers, promising its former owners the two cars they stole.

By the time they settled down, it was night. They tapped into their limited supply of food they had stolen from a food truck that passed by earlier.

They had been reduced to this. Living like savages.

That night, Natsume sat outside their temporary home.

Natsume had never felt so helpless. His very own sister, one that he couldn't find for so long, finally, he knew her whereabouts. Finally, he struck gold. Thanks to the other love of his life. Both under the same man's grasp.

He swore he would protect them both. And now, Natsume scowled bitterly, look how the tables have turned.

With strength and determination he didn't know he had, Natsume looked at the sky, "I'll find you."

A shooting star flitted across the sky.

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Somewhere very far away, Mikan felt a tug in her heart. She shoved the feeling to the back of her mind as she stood before the Alices, now one of their own.

"Welcome to the Elites, Mikan Sakura." A soft female voice echoed through the dark room. "Or should I say, welcome back."

Mikan knew the woman before she had to take off her hood. Maybe she's always known, deep down in her guts, she just couldn't believe it. So this is what happened to her childhood best friend. They were both trained to be killers since birth.

Mikan greeted back, taking her hand, but instead, pulling it into a hug. "Sakura Kinomoto, the Princess, I should've known."

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**A/N:** As you can see, for this chapter, we delved into why Mikan did what she did.

**This is the "season finale" of the story. Notice how there's more questions that popped up than answers, so stay tuned for my sequel. **

**Much appreciated if you'd..**Please, please comment below with your idea of Mikan's codename for my sequel! All ideas - good, bad, joke or not - are welcome! C'mon, am I gonna judge? No. But I will respond.

_A special thank you to those who reviewed or will review. Thank you all for reading and participating in my journey to unleash imagination! _


	15. teaser trailer

Author's note: I've been planning this sequel since chapter eight, so my excitement level at the mere thought of releasing the first few chapters within the next few weeks is at a 350%. GET HYPE.

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_The following __**teaser trailer**__ has been approved for appropriate audiences. _

_Rated T for language, suggestions of sex ions away from lime or lemon, and violence._

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Imagine the scenes described flashing on the screen while you hear the bolded dialogue as a voice over. In the end, it'll explain where the voice over is coming from_._

_There is no chronological order to these events_

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"_**They've thrown our backs against the wall!"**_

Yuka is catapulted from the explosion. Like a small tootsie roll, her body bounced off the wall and rolled onto the ground, just inches from the scathing fire. Her dirtied hands claw at the ground as she struggled to get up. Her face is scrunched up in grief as she looked back at the still burning fire. She ducked quickly, covering her head just as burning debris flew by.

She cried out in suffering for a part of the brick wall tumbled down on her lower body. Yuka spared a glance at the ever increasing fire as the heat intensified. Her brain was turning quickly while her eyes were assessing the situation and her hands were picking apart the layers of bricks on top of her. She gasped when she spotted the crates of oil in the far corner. She focused on the task of freeing her lower body.

Coughing against the poisonous smoke, she thrust a heavy brick resting on her abdomen urgently away. Yuka glanced up. The fire was making its way across the building. Quickly calculating the distance between the fire and oil crates, her eyes widened.

200 meters.

She grabbed a brick in each hand, shoving them off her right thigh. She was desperate now, digging her hands through the layers of bricks and shoving them aside.

100 meters.

Yuka grunted painfully, tugging at her legs. She pushed at the bricks and pulled at her broken legs with all her strength. She needed to survive this. She needed to get back to base. She needed to see Mikan again -

"_**There has to be something - anything."**_

Sakura lay on the hospital bed, immobile and unconscious. All the machines surrounding her couldn't help her.

Syaoran lay with his head down, by her side, his hand not letting go of hers. His hair a mess and his bloodied clothing dirty. His body language weary and distraught.

Eriol stood by the wall. He, on the other hand, had changed to cleaner clothes, but also stand weary and distraught.

Syaoran picked up his head, and Eriol turned his to stare curiously at the heart monitor. It was starting to slow.

Desperately, Syaoran sat up, pleading with the unconscious woman, taking her hand in both of his. Eriol stepped forward in concern, resting a consoling hand on his partner's shoulder.

Without fail, the heart monitor slowed...and slowed...until it flatlined. The horrific sound filled Syaoran's ears. With widened eyes, he shouted in rage.

Quickly, Eriol grabbed his partner's arm and wrenched him back. The doors slammed open and Dr. Imai runs in, along with Nonoko and Anna. Nonoko was fumbling with medical equipment. Dr. Imai was performing CPR. Anna was setting up the defibrillator. They were going to do anything that could save their friend.

Eriol holds onto Syaoran shakily as tears of his own flows from his face. He couldn't bear to see his partner's heart broken expression. The scene was horrific.

"_**Run?"**_

Nonoko, who was supposed to be keeping an eye out, ran towards Yuu with an urgent expression. Yuu didn't have to read her lips nor hear her words to know what she said. He quickly snatched the flash drive out of the side of the laptop. He rushed out of the office, just as she reached him, and they ran down the hallway, turning randomly.

Yuu and Nonoko ran and ran - until they reached the end of a hallway. They looked around harriedly, Nonoko muttering curses under her breath.

Yuu stopped, grabbing her hand. She looked at him questionably, but he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at the window that ended the hallway.

There was a uniform inhale of breath, as they took ten steps back. Then, with intertwined fingers, they sprinted at the clear glass - their arms and knees lifting as shards of glass exploded around them.

"_**How? Where? They've got us."**__  
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The camera shutter clicks. A hand twisted the lens to zoom in on the scene.

Behind the back of a building, in a tight alleyway, almost completely shadowed, were two figures. They seemed to be in deep discussion, the taller figure - the one called Natsume - had a dark expression on his face. While the shorter female - the cameraman knew her as one of them, Mikan - seemed to be pleading with him. Then they launched into some type of argument. It was over quickly however, when Natsume suddenly reached out for her cheek and enveloped her mouth with his.

The camera shutter clicked some more.

_**"No...no, we have one more option."**_

The breath is knocked out of Eriol as he slammed heavily against the wall. He glanced up blearily to see his partner, Syaoran, combating the hooded individual. By the way the attacker moved, Eriol deduced she was a woman. Syaoran crouched down, evading a blow, instead, throwing his leg forward to trip his opponent. The attacker jumped out of the way and onto Syaoran, bringing him down. Syaoran wrestled the attacker, finally throwing her off and quickly standing up to face her.

Their physical combat travelled down the corridor and around the corner, out of Eriol's sight. By the sound of grunts and thuds, Eriol knew they weren't too far.

Syaoran dodged another kick and jab at his body as he was pushed backwards into another corridor and around the corner. He brought his body down to a low crouch as she had jumped and attempted to kick him in the upper body. When she only met air, she ended up revising her movement and landing on his back as he crouched. Wrestling her stranglehold, Syaoran threw her off his back, standing as he did so.

Rather than falling to the ground, Syaoran's attacker had swiftly backflipped - pausing momentarily in a handstand. She had suddenly forward flipped, running both her legs straight into Syaoran's chest. Having seen it coming just a millisecond before, Syaoran had attempted to swipe at the attacker's face. He had only managed to dislodge her mask while she threw him down to the ground and knocked out his breath. She landed with her knees on his chest.

The flips had blown his attacker's deep hood off, revealing sunkissed blonde locks and bright emerald eyes. If Syaoran's breath weren't knocked out already, it was now.

"_**And what's that?"**_

The cars whizzed by in a flash, going more than 100 miles per hour. Natsume sat calmly behind the wheel of one of the race cars, turning the wheel swiftly, bracing himself against the seat at the sharp turn. From his peripheral vision, he saw Mochu's flashy red Nissan catching up next to him. But that wasn't what he was worried about.

He felt a strong jolt and the sharp sound of his car being scratched. To his left was a black Acura bumping roughly against him. Jerking his wheel, and pressing on the gas pedal harder, Natsume tried to get out of the way. He felt the back end of his car run into Mochu's. There was a curse and the red Nissan veered away - but another black Acura flew out of nowhere, blocking his path.

At 175 mph, there was only one outcome from such a situation.

Natsume glanced to his right just in time to see bright sparks and the red Nissan flying in the air, twisting 360 degrees a dozen times, then landing on its roof. He was forced to peel his eyes away as he felt the two Acuras zone in on him.

He took a glance to his left as he turned sharply in that direction, causing the chaser to his right fall back- but the black Acura to his left kept up. They were window to window now, scratching each other's paint occasionally. He glanced once more to his left, just as its driver looked at him.

He nearly lost his grip on the wheel when he caught sight of long auburn locks, familiar hazel eyes, and a slight, mischievous smile to her lips.

"_**Hide in plain sight."**_

Sakura patted down her pant suit one more time. She took a deep breath. She pushed through the opaque glass to face ten agents sitting around the conference table. At their mixed look of surprise, suspicion, curiosity, and caution, she took out a small square ID from her pocket. Opening it, she flashed them an Interpol badge, greeting them all amiably.

"_**Are you sure?"**_

The static voices came out of a laptop, resting innocently in the middle of a conference table. It was obviously tampered with, both completely encrypted and undecipherable. Ten agents sat solemnly around the table.

Natsume Hyuuga. Hotaru Imai. Yuu Tobita. Nonoko Ogasawara. Anna Umenomiya. Kokoro Yome. Kitsuneme. Mochiage - also known as Mochu. Syaoran Li. Eriol Hiiragizawa.

"_**They'll never see it coming."**_

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**In Plain Sight**

_**by Aspirator**_

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**Summary **

"There was a forbidden love between enemies, members of powerful organizations of good and evil. But it was not time to sing to Juliet, Romeo. No, it was time for war. Time to crush souls, tear apart families, break hearts." Eriol paused when Hotaru scoffed. He continued, "There will be espionage, bloodshed, battle of the wits, and worst of all...Syaoran's driving."

_Cardcaptor Sakura & Gakuen Alice Crossover _

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Coming

**FEBRUARY 14, 2014**

to a browser near you

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Twelve able bodied men and women stand before their transportation. Each carrying satchels of equipment in big black bags or backpacks.

Tomoyo stood before Eriol, fussing over his appearance. As of currently, she's fixing the high-tech glasses on his face, muttering about its resistance to stupidity, and goodness, if only Eriol could be a little gentler on the lens-that-also-turns-into-a-screen. No wonder Tomoyo is always off fixing the darned thing.

While Anna and Nonoko melted at their cuteness, Syaoran grimaced.

Sakura stepped up to stand next to him. She smile charmingly at the agent. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Syaoran responded with a straight face.

"Good." Her smile widened.

"Great." He squared his shoulder.

"Okay." Now she was full on grinning, giving him a strange look.

"Alright." Syaoran nodded at her.

Sakura nods back with a small, confused chuckle before she ambled off.

Koko walked by Syaoran, pausing next to him. "You really have a way with women," he commented cheekily.


	16. sequel!

Hey The A Team Readers! Guess what day it is?

No, no, not Single Awareness Day - stop it! Don't remind me!

As promised, the first official chapter of my **sequel is out**! Check out **In Plain Sight** (The first official chapter is actually the second chapter since the first chapter is the trailer you probably already read).

Thank you all again for reading, reviewing, and just enjoying the story as much as I did.

_Again, no knowledge of the fandom Cardcaptor Sakura will be needed to read the sequel. I repeat, if you've never heard of Cardcaptor Sakura before, it's okay, you can still read and fully understand the story._


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